Federal authorities are struggling to explain why 600 people in 22 states have fallen ill from a food borne parasite rarely seen in the United States. But some officials are ready to finger one culprit that has hindered their investigation: the sequester. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has had to slash $285 million at a time when food and health experts say disease detection needs more funding as these type of food outbreak cases become more complex and widespread.
Taylor Farms, which is the largest supplier of leafy greens in the U.S., said its operation has undergone more than 1,800 tests, and every single one of which has come back negative for the parasite. After voluntarily suspending operations for two weeks, the company has resumed operations and instituted regular testing for Cyclospora.
Meanwhile, CDC officials are circling around another possible explanation. “We’re coming to the conclusion that this may be two separate outbreaks,” said Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases. “It’s very difficult to come up with any explanation that connects the two.” Significantly hindering the CDC is that it does not have the technology it needs to conduct the “genetic fingerprinting” that would tell investigators which illnesses are linked to a common source, Tauxe said.
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