USDA: Food supply is safe despite cyclospora, screwworm fights

Administration USDA: Food supply is safe despite cyclospora, screwworm fights Comments: by Finya Swai - 07/23/26 8:08 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 07/23/26 8:08 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sought to reassure Americans on Thursday that the nation’s food supply remains safe despite an ongoing cyclospora outbreak and the spread of the New World screwworm.

“The food supply remains the best, the safest, the most affordable in the world, and will continue to do so,” Rollins said in a Thursday interview with NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) chief said ensuring the safety of the nation’s food supply is the agency’s No. 1 priority, insisting that food in the country is currently safe despite the outbreaks.

Federal health officials have been responding to a multistate cyclospora outbreak tied to lettuce imported from Mexico. Illnesses stemming from the outbreak are from a parasite spread through contaminated food and water.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 4,000 nationwide cases of cyclosporiasis since May 1, making it the largest outbreak on record.

Rollins said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees foodborne illness investigations, is working to determine how the contaminant entered the U.S. food supply “to better understand what happened and how to make sure we’re protecting America.”

Rollins also used the outbreak to argue that the U.S. should produce more of its own food and agriculture, rather than relying on foreign imports.

“I think it, again, goes to our previous conversation about national security and reshoring a lot of the food that we need in this country.”

She said progress has also been made with containing the flesh-eating New World screwworm that can infect humans and pets, which has returned decades after it was eradicated.

“We only have 12 active cases in Texas, and those numbers are declining,” Rollins said in the interview.

The agency is increasing the production of sterile flies used to suppress screwworm populations, calling the effort a key part of USDA’s eradication strategy, according to Rollins.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service credited using sterile flies as a proven method that worked to eradicate New World screwworm from the U.S. in 1966, as well as eliminate a smaller 2017 outbreak in the Florida Keys.

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