Washington DC - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assured the nation on Tuesday that he has a handle on an outbreak of a diarrhea-inducing parasite that has infected thousands of Americans.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Kennedy insisted to reporters that he and his department "have the outbreak under control."
"We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics and we have identified the source of the outbreak," RFK Jr. explained. "We, and the companies that are involved, have implemented a recall."
Over 30 states have reported cases of cyclospora – a parasite that causes extreme diarrhea – with dozens of hospitalizations but no deaths.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration reported the outbreak was traced back to lettuce produced by Taylor Farms that was sold at Taco Bell, but the agency later rescinded the news, claiming their testing resulted in a false positive.
When asked about criticisms that he and President Donald Trump's decision to cut a federal program that monitored such foodborne pathogens helped fuel the outbreak, Kennedy called the claims "invalid."
"We did cuts in the FoodNet program, but they were for redundant surveillance, and all the states will tell you that we're still doing forensics," he argued.
Kennedy and the Trump administration made the cut in July 2025, which stopped the program from monitoring eight of the 10 pathogens it had previously, including cyclospora.