The Trump administration is actively making it harder for the federal government to fight a deadly foodborne parasite that has left Americans terrified of lettuce, according to a new report.
The Agriculture department is shuttering two of three projects to study cyclospora even as 17,000 Americans have been sickened this summer, Politico reported Sunday. The third project is being moved to Iowa — despite scientists refusing to relocate.
Barbara Kowalcyk, an associate professor at George Washington’s Milken Institute of Public Health, explained just one of multiple risks; “Do you want them shipping highly pathogenic strains of bacteria in a truck across the country?”
The problem begins at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, a Maryland facility outside Washington, D.C. that the Trump administration has deemed to costly to run after Congress slashed the budget for two key projects, according to Politico.
BARC is where experts with decades of experience study cyclospora, which has already claimed two lives amid an ongoing outbreak, according to the report. Multiple sources told Politico the move to Iowa could cause harm for years to come.
“There are very few people in the world that study these [parasites],” Joelle Mosso, associate vice president for science growers at the Western Growers Association, told Politico. “It’s not just replacing the lab. It takes decades to build expertise.”
Thats because scientists are retiring rather than relocate or take on different projects, two USDA employees told Politico.
“They will have no parasitologists,” said one. “There will be a big knowledge gap.”
The BARC scientists who have opted to relocate in a few weeks have been told that their research equipment may not follow for months, according to three people familiar with the planning.
According to Politico, this will leave them effectively unable to work.