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It happened quietly in July 2025. The nation’s main foodborne illness tracking network reduced its daily watch list. They went from monitoring eight pathogens down to just two.

One of the organisms dropped from the active surveillance list was Cyclospora. It is a microscopic parasite that causes severe, explosive gastrointestinal illness capable of lasting for months if left untreated.

Right now, an unusually massive outbreak is sweeping through Michigan and rapidly crossing state lines. The CDC has not explicitly linked the severity of the outbreak to the lack of early warnings. Public health experts, however, point out a simple reality. When you stop looking for a threat, figuring out exactly where it came from takes significantly longer.