News That USDA Cyclospora Research Was Defunded in 2026 Emerges as Nation’s Largest-Ever Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Continues
The Trump Administration has cut two of three federal Cyclospora research projects and is disrupting the third, according to anonymous inside sources who spoke to POLITICO.
The news has emerged as the nation’s largest-ever cyclosporiasis outbreak, linked to iceberg lettuce grown and distributed by Taylor Farms/Taylor Fresh Foods, continues to sweep the U.S. As of August 28, more than 11,000 people have fallen ill across 20 states, resulting in nearly 500 hospitalizations and two deaths, in association with the outbreak. Outside of the outbreak, the country is also experiencing a significant spike in cyclosporiasis, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recording more than 17,000 laboratory-confirmed cases since May 1, 2026. For comparison, CDC recorded just 1,200 Cyclospora infections between May and August of 2025.
Specifically, the two already-cut projects, which represented “nearly all” of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) study of the parasite, were defunded by Congress earlier in 2026. The third research project will be affected by a major USDA reorganization plan, in which the study—and all the USDA staffers working on it—will be relocated from Maryland to Iowa this fall.
Impact of USDA Reorganization on Workforce, Research Center
As part of the agency’s reorganization, USDA staffers, including those working on Cyclospora research at the agency’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Maryland, will have to resign if they choose not to relocate from the Washington D.C. area to various locations across the U.S. West and Midwest. It is predicted that many USDA employees based in the Mid-Atlantic will choose to resign rather than relocate, possibly contributing to a further loss of expertise and “brain drain,” on top of attrition due to mass federal reductions in force (RIFs) executed in the early months of the Trump Administration.
(In fact, USDA lost 18 percent of its workforce in the first six months of the Trump Administration alone, many of whom were veteran staffers and/or holders of advanced degrees. This attrition trend continued through 2025 and into 2026.)
Losing an ‘Enormous Opportunity’ to Study Cyclospora in Current Outbreak
USDA told POLITICO that Congress’ Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations decisions are to blame for defunding the two cyclosporiasis research projects that were being conducted at BARC, but said that “none of the research has been disrupted, and research will continue without disruption.”
However, an anonymous USDA employee who worked on the defunded Cyclospora research at BARC told POLITICO that researchers are not allowed to continue any work on the project besides preserving samples from past outbreaks. The source said the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak of unprecedented proportions would have been “an enormous opportunity” to gather “a lot of samples that could help us understand [cyclosporiasis] outbreaks better.”
According to the USDA spokesperson who spoke to POLITICO, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) “is working with research leaders to ensure an orderly transition of programs” amid the agency reorganization.
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