The Cyclospora Panic of 2026

Our federal government is now so powerful that it can bankrupt or shut down a commodity, an industry, or a class of restaurant with a single decree.

John F. Di Leo | August 19, 2026

If the government discovered a new risk that you could catch an illness -- like a really bad stomach flu -- from eating something, would you want the government to warn you?

Now, what if they didn’t know which one thing was spreading this illness, but it could be any of a number of different fruits and vegetables? Still want that vague warning?

Now, what if this illness is always present, with a few thousand cases every year, but this year, the spread just might be worse than usual? So, the difference this year is really just a matter of degree. Still want them to tell you?

A few thousand people get cyclosporiasis every year (and yes, it is awful). In 2026, federal agencies suspected it might hit the tens of thousands of cases.

Still a drop in the bucket, in a nation of 340 million.

So these agencies reported the risk. They didn’t go overboard and ban everything imaginable. They tried to use their bully pulpit responsibly by sharing the warning and looking for the source of the somewhat higher-than-usual incidence of this parasite.

As the summer went on, the public learned more and more about the source of this illness. It’s a parasite. It lives in fecal matter. It’s destroyed by proper water processing systems. But some water processing systems don’t process sewage correctly, so when farms irrigate their crops with improperly treated water, the very process of irrigating crops can spread it onto fresh crops. You buy raw ingredients, eat them, ingest the troublemaker, and get sick. Cyclosporiasis hits.

In response to this information, many Americans spent their summer avoiding raw ingredients. People who........

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