Ossoff slams RFK Jr. in letter reiterating concerns over disease monitoring funds
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) has criticized Health and human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the decision to cut surveillance programs at the CDC’s FoodNet, which monitors foodborne illnesses like cyclospora. Ossoff previously requested explanations about why the surveillance was reduced in July 2025, focusing on a nationwide outbreak of cyclosporiasis with over 11,000 cases across 41 states.Kennedy has not responded to these concerns. The CDC had scaled back surveillance to only two pathogens, citing changes in the surveillance landscape and claims of redundancy, while Ossoff and others view this as a reckless move that hampers outbreak investigation and containment efforts. recently, the CDC expanded its investigation to include four additional states linked to contaminated produce from Mexico, with nearly 2,000 illnesses and 98 hospitalizations reported. ossoff accuses Kennedy of neglecting public health responsibilities amidst the ongoing outbreak.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) sent another letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding answers for the cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, which ended the program’s monitoring of cyclospora.
Ossoff initially sent a letter to Kennedy on July 16, requesting additional information about why FoodNet reduced surveillance to just two pathogens in July 2025, citing concerns over a cyclosporiasis outbreak that has spread across the country. Kennedy has yet to respond, the senator said in a letter sent Friday.
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“Seventy-two hours have passed since I wrote to you regarding the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak, which now exceeds 11,000 cases across 41 states,” Ossoff wrote in the letter. “You have failed to address my questions regarding your inexplicable decision to terminate the [CDC’s FoodNet] required surveillance of Cyclospora cayetanensis, and the progress of federal efforts to investigate and contain it.”
In his initial letter to Kennedy, Ossoff requested the secretary clarify if FoodNet has restored tracking of cyclospora cayetanensis, why tracking was terminated, and provide an update on investigations seeking the source and scope of the outbreak.
“Your silence amidst an ongoing outbreak of diarrheal disease is indicative of the reckless arrogance with which you demolished America’s public health defense,” Ossoff said in the Friday letter, restating his initial questions.
FoodNet is a collaborative program among the CDC, the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and 10 state health departments. The surveillance area covers 16% of the U.S. population. Ossoff previously called the scaling back a “foolish and self-indulgent demolition” by Kennedy.
According to the CDC’s website, the decision to cut surveillance to two pathogens, Salmonella and E. Coli, was because “the surveillance landscape has changed since the collaboration began in 1995.” Kennedy has also said the cuts addressed “redundant surveillance,” while insisting the cyclosporiasis outbreak is under control.
On Friday, the CDC expanded its investigation into a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak, adding four more states linked to contaminated produce from central Mexico as federal health officials work to trace one of the largest unknown outbreaks of the parasitic illness in the United States.
The center reports at least 1,947 people have fallen ill in the nine-state outbreak, with a total of 98 hospitalizations. There have been no reported deaths at this time.
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