RE: https://c.im/@cdarwin/117185745150343760

"The third is slated to move from Maryland to Iowa this fall as part of a sweeping USDA reorganization. Even though that project still has money, every scientist working on the parasite has declined to relocate....

"Americans are increasingly worried that they can’t trust the food supply.

"More than 17,000 people have been sickened by cyclospora this summer.... While scientific research couldn’t prevent the current outbreak, it could help investigators find the culprit faster next time — or prevent an outbreak in the first place.

"The Trump administration has said that BARC, a 6,500-acre complex where researchers study nutrition, animal health and food safety, is too expensive to keep open. USDA officials have also said that the goal of the reorganization is to move the department’s employees closer to the people they serve....

"A USDA spokesperson blamed Congress for the funding cuts, and said, “None of the research has been disrupted, and research will continue without disruption.”

“Congress did not appropriate funding for the two BARC research projects referenced in the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act,” the USDA spokesperson said in a statement....

“We’re basically not allowed to continue any research on that beyond trying to preserve the samples that we already have from previous outbreaks,” said a third USDA employee who worked on defunded cyclospora research that was done at BARC."