In case you missed the headlines amid the usual noise, the United States is dealing with a surge in cyclosporiasis cases that can only be described as, well, explosive. Since May 1, 2026, the CDC has tallied over 1,600 confirmed domestically acquired infections across dozens of states, with thousands more under investigation and totals pushing toward 7,000 when suspects are included. Michigan alone has reported thousands, and hospitalizations are climbing. This parasite, which turns your intestines into a battlefield of watery misery for weeks, loves imported produce and thrives when surveillance slacks off.
Timing is everything. Just last year, under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC scaled back FoodNet monitoring, making reporting for Cyclospora optional instead of mandatory alongside several other foodborne threats. What could possibly go wrong? Now we have an outbreak exploding across the heartland, and critics are pointing directly at those cuts for leaving us flying blind on early detection and traceback.
This is not an isolated oops. Look over at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which has absorbed serious staffing reductions. New World screwworm, that delightful flesh-eating maggot pest eradicated from the U.S. decades ago, has made a comeback, with cases popping up in Texas and raising alarms for livestock producers. APHIS lost thousands of personnel in the efficiency drive, and the agency is now scrambling with sterile fly programs and emergency responses while ranchers worry about higher beef prices and suffering animals. Invasive pests do not pause for budget audits.
Meanwhile, the federal government is on a different kind of spending spree. The proposed fiscal year 2027 defense budget clocks in at a cool $1.5 trillion, the largest ever, with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth framing it as a bold message to the world. Modernization, shipyards, raises for troops, the works.
And in perfect symmetry with the RFK “manliness” protocol, Hegseth just announced annual testosterone screening for service members over 30, with hormone replacement on the table to keep our warriors at peak “lethality.” Nothing says national security like optimizing T-levels while parasites and maggots run loose at home.
AgroWars readers understand the stakes here. Our food supply, animal health, and domestic agriculture are foundational to actual national strength. When monitoring programs get gutted in the name of streamlining, outbreaks follow. When APHIS is short-handed, pests that devour livestock profits and welfare gain ground. These are not abstract policy tweaks. They hit farms, ranches, grocery bills, and public health directly.
Yet the priority seems to be elsewhere: pouring unprecedented sums into defense while domestic ag and health infrastructure strains. Perhaps it is time to recalibrate. Waging endless conflicts abroad has drained the treasury and tarnished America’s standing for years. The return on investment looks increasingly questionable when basic safeguards for the food we eat and the animals we raise are underfunded.
A bit of old-fashioned prioritization might serve us better. Secure the supply chain, bolster surveillance that actually catches parasites before they explode, resource APHIS properly to keep screwworm and its cousins in check, and tend to the health and productivity of our own population and herds. Projecting strength starts at home with a robust, resilient agricultural base, not just bigger budgets for overseas adventures and mandatory hormone checks.
The parasites are not waiting for the next appropriations cycle. Neither should policymakers.