NEW YORK — The Trump administration has reduced public health surveillance by scaling back the Foodborne Disease Active Disease Surveillance Network (FoodNet) program, cutting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expertise on parasitic diseases, dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and removing ocean monitoring instruments. Researchers discovered flesh-eating bacteria in water in several coastal locations across New York's Long Island this spring.

Town officials in the Hamptons posted an alert about the findings. Eight people in Florida have been infected with Vibrio vulnificus this year, and Mississippi health officials urged people to take precautions in June. Vibrio vulnificus can enter open wounds and cause tissue death and systemic sepsis. About 1 in 5 people infected by Vibrio vulnificus die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill, according to a CDC fact sheet. Infections from Vibrio vulnificus linked to consuming raw or undercooked shellfish have been increasing as the presence of other pathogens in food decreases.

Screwworm reemerged in the U.S. in June, with the first new case reported on June 3. Screwworm is a species of parasitic blowfly that produces larvae capable of entering open wounds and devouring tissue, infecting people and animals. More than 20,000 employees have left the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the USDA's Office of Inspector General reported an 18% workforce loss in the first six months of this year.

In May, new federal guidance warned that the U.S. is vulnerable to the reintroduction of malaria. The administration dissolved the CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, shuffling staffers to other divisions. The CDC's updated guidance on investigating domestic cases warned in May that "the country remains susceptible to malaria reintroduction." "The majority of U.S. residents lack protective immunity against malaria, rendering persons susceptible to severe illness and death if infected," the CDC said in the May report.

Last year, the Trump administration stopped requiring FoodNet states to report on all but two pathogens, impacting a program that has monitored and tracked cases of foodborne illness caused by eight specific pathogens, including Vibrio, since 1995. "We are letting down defenses that were necessary to protect against microbial threats," said Tom Frieden, a former CDC director who is now president and chief executive of Resolve to Save Lives. He added, "Instead of protecting, we're doing the opposite."

President Trump opted to freeze and review global health programs early in his administration. The Trump administration's cost-reduction effort, led by Elon Musk, dismantled USAID. This disruption impacted the President's Malaria Initiative, a program aimed at combating malaria in hard-hit countries, which is credited with saving more than 11 million lives. According to KFF, an independent research group, 80% of USAID grants for global malaria programs were targeted for termination, and the spending freeze halted research for more effective malaria vaccines. The cuts at USAID also removed more than $300 million from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, which focuses on global food security and the monitoring of zoonotic diseases.