Re: Foodborne Illness rising in USA - Protection dismantled.

On Aug 9, 2026 at 9:07:57 AM EDT, "Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 8/8/2026 5:26 PM, Dude wrote:
>> On 8/7/2026 12:57 PM, Wilson wrote:
>>> On 8/7/2026 1:21 PM, Dude wrote:
>>>> On 8/7/2026 7:27 AM, Tara wrote:
>>>>>   RFK Jr. promised to make America healthy again. Instead, he’s
>>>>> given America
>>>>> explosive diarrhea
>>>>> Aug. 7, 2026
>>>>> 
>>>>>   EPA promised a Make America Healthy Again agenda. It has yet to
>>>>> materialize,
>>>>> frustrating activists
>>>>> FoodNet is one of those programs you never hear about until
>>>>> something goes
>>>>> terribly wrong.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Things in the United States have, in more ways than one, gone
>>>>> terribly wrong.
>>>>> This time, it’s an outbreak of Cyclospora, a parasite that causes
>>>>> bouts of
>>>>> explosive diarrhea — the kind of parasite FoodNet was set up to
>>>>> surveil and
>>>>> prevent.
>>>>> 
>>>>> But the program has been a victim of U.S. President Donald Trump’s
>>>>> war on
>>>>> health. And now America is suffering under a massive outbreak of
>>>>> cyclosporiasis.
>>>>> 
>>>>> This catastrophe provides yet another good reason to boycott
>>>>> American goods.
>>>>> 
>>>>> FoodNet, a backronym for the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance
>>>>> Network,
>>>>> was launched by the U.S. government in 1995. It was founded as a
>>>>> “sentinel
>>>>> surveillance” program, monitoring local hospitals and clinics for early
>>>>> evidence of outbreaks of eight notorious bacteria and parasites,
>>>>> including
>>>>> Cyclospora.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The program has been played an unsung part in keeping the American
>>>>> food system
>>>>> safe. FoodNet was credited with helping the U.S. respond rapidly to
>>>>> a massive
>>>>> listeria outbreak in 2011. Within days of people falling ill, the
>>>>> Centers for
>>>>> Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had identified the source —
>>>>> cantaloupe
>>>>> from a Colorado farm — and ordered a recall. While the outbreak
>>>>> proved the
>>>>> deadliest in American history, it was contained in about two weeks.
>>>>> 
>>>>> FoodNet, government scientists say, is a “critical” piece of the
>>>>> system that
>>>>> responds to such outbreaks.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The threat of foodborne illness is rising: the U.S. was already
>>>>> seeing about
>>>>> 1,000 cases of cyclosporiasis per year, requiring constant efforts
>>>>> to track
>>>>> down and contain the source. Public-health officials have recommended
>>>>> expanding FoodNet to meet that threat.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Then came Trump and his paranoid quack of a health secretary, Robert F.
>>>>> Kennedy Jr. Last year, the CDC announced FoodNet would no longer
>>>>> actively
>>>>> surveil cyclosporiasis and five other illnesses, citing budget cuts.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Then, in May, hundreds of cyclosporiasis cases began popping up
>>>>> across the
>>>>> U.S. Kennedy took a break from his endless rotation of podcast
>>>>> appearances to
>>>>> declare the outbreak “under control.” He said it had been traced
>>>>> back to a
>>>>> Mexican lettuce producer and insisted his cuts hadn’t harmed the
>>>>> government’s
>>>>> ability to respond. FoodNet, he said, was “redundant surveillance.”
>>>>> 
>>>>> But the outbreak wasn’t under control. As of early August, there
>>>>> have been
>>>>> more than 20,000 suspected and confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis,
>>>>> and two
>>>>> deaths. The test that had identified the alleged source of the
>>>>> outbreak had
>>>>> produced a false positive, officials say. It’s possible that this
>>>>> current
>>>>> outbreak — now in its third month, and likely to get worse — is, in
>>>>> fact,
>>>>> multiple outbreaks from multiple sources of contaminated
>>>>> produce.FoodNet could
>>>>> not have prevented the spread of Cyclospora on its own, but it could
>>>>> have
>>>>> helped the government respond. That it was downsized is another
>>>>> illustration
>>>>> of how a once-great system has been attacked and dismantled by
>>>>> Kennedy, a
>>>>> conspiracy theorist who believes doctors and scientists are frauds and
>>>>> criminals.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thousands of government employees responsible for food safety have
>>>>> been laid
>>>>> off or fired over the past year. Staff at the U.S. Department of
>>>>> Agriculture
>>>>> Food Safety and Inspection Service, for example, was cut by 20 per
>>>>> cent.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Other cuts have hobbled official response to the screwworm parasite,
>>>>> which
>>>>> attacks cattle. Surveillance for bird flu, too, has been axed, while
>>>>> Kennedy
>>>>> has brought funding for global public-health programs, particularly in
>>>>> countries that can’t afford to fund their own, to an abrupt halt,
>>>>> making it
>>>>> more likely the next global pandemic will come sooner and be deadlier.
>>>>> 
>>>>> America’s anti-establishment mania has allowed grifters like Kennedy
>>>>> to not
>>>>> only lay waste to what was once humanity’s most impressive public-
>>>>> health
>>>>> system but also export the consequences of those decisions to the
>>>>> rest of us.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The U.S. sends billions of dollars in agricultural goods to Canada,
>>>>> to say
>>>>> nothing of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cars and a host of other
>>>>> things. Just a
>>>>> few years ago, we could pick up American produce and feel confident
>>>>> it was
>>>>> perfectly safe. Today? Not so much.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Leaving American goods on the shelves is a solid way to protest
>>>>> Trump’s trade
>>>>> war and threats of annexation. Increasingly, it is also a wise bit of
>>>>> self-preservation.
>>>>> 
>>>> You don't say!
>>>> 
>>>> More advanced technology equips researchers to detect more outbreaks
>>>> than before.
>>>> 
>>>> Apparently the germs were on lettuce grown down in Mexico. YMMV.
>>> 
>>> https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-15-
>>> state-outbreak-cyclospora-illnesses-iceberg-lettuce-july-2026
>>> 
>>> August 5, 2026
>>> 
>>> The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are
>>> investigating a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections linked to
>>> iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico and recalled by Taylor
>>> Farms de Mexico.
>>> 
>>> Since the last update on July 24, 2026, state and local health
>>> officials have continued to interview additional cases of
>>> cyclosporiasis and CDC has added them to this multistate outbreak. Due
>>> to the additional interview data, the outbreak now includes people who
>>> reported exposure to Taco Bell or recalled Taylor Farms de Mexico
>>> iceberg lettuce. Many of these illnesses began before the Taylor Farms
>>> de Mexico iceberg lettuce recall on July 17, 2026. The total case
>>> count associated with this multistate outbreak is now 6,358 illnesses
>>> reported from 15 states.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/hcp/clinical-overview/index.html
>>> 
>>> Cyclosporiasis contamination occurs through a fecal-environment-oral
>>> route involving the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. It is not
>>> directly person-to-person.
>>> 
>>> Infected humans shed unsporulated (immature) oocysts in their feces.
>>> These oocysts are not immediately infectious. They must mature
>>> (sporulate) in the external environment, which typically requires 1–2
>>> weeks (or 7–15 days under favorable conditions of roughly 22–32°C /
>>> 73– 77°F and suitable humidity). Once sporulated, the oocysts become
>>> infectious.
>>> 
>>> When someone ingests food or water containing these mature oocysts,
>>> the parasite invades the small intestine lining and causes illness.
>>> Humans are the only known significant host for C. cayetanensis (no
>>> established animal reservoir).
>>> 
>>> The oocysts reach fresh produce (especially leafy greens like iceberg
>>> lettuce, herbs such as cilantro/basil, berries, etc.) primarily via
>>> contaminated agricultural water (most commonly implicated for large
>>> outbreaks).
>>> 
>>> This includes irrigation, spraying, washing, or cooling water polluted
>>> by human sewage. Sources of fecal input can include leaking septic
>>> systems, overflowing sewers (especially after heavy rain), improper
>>> disposal of portable toilet waste, or other sanitation failures that
>>> allow human feces into canals, rivers, or groundwater used on farms.
>>> 
>>> Infected farmworkers (symptomatic or asymptomatic) can contaminate
>>> produce, soil, equipment, or water through inadequate handwashing,
>>> open defecation near fields, or improper waste handling. Direct hand
>>> contact during harvest or packing can deposit oocysts, which then
>>> sporulate on the produce surface.
>>> 
>>> Standard chlorine-based sanitizers and routine produce washing are not
>>> reliably effective against Cyclospora oocysts (they are relatively
>>> resistant). Cooking to at least 70°C (158°F) kills them.
>>> 
>>> Because sporulation requires time in the environment, the
>>> contamination event must precede harvest/consumption by days to weeks.
>>> 
>>> https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/cyclosporiasis/index.html
>>> 
>>> https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborne-pathogens/cyclosporiasis-and-fresh-
>>> produce
>>> 
>> Thanks for posting this information. Personally, I'm in favor of the
>> open defecation near fields theory of contamination. YMMV.
>> 
>> Not ruling out potash contamination, but at any rate, our food is
>> killing us!
>> 
>> It's enough to make you think about going to a Farmer's Market and
>> getting some organic foods and cooking from scratch.
>> 
>> Baring that, get some lean meat and grill the hell out of it! YMMV.
> 
> I agree the crapping in the fields theory is likely correct, but hadn't
> even considered the potash angle. Those evil canadians are always up to
> something.

Booo :)