Erica Schwartz, President Donald J. Trump’s nominee to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, faced questions on Wednesday relating to vaccine hesitancy and the ongoing cyclospora outbreak, during her confirmation hearing with the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) questioned Schwartz, a deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term, about the role of the CDC in tracking outbreaks like the current cyclospora outbreak. Cyclospora is one of eight pathogens the CDC tracks through its Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, also known as FoodNet, a partnership among government agencies and 10 state health departments. In July 2025, the agency made reporting optional for Cyclospora and five other pathogens.
“You are a public health expert. Is there any scientific or medical justification for CDC having eliminated mandatory reporting of that parasite?” Murray asked Schwartz. Schwartz replied that she was unaware that the FoodNet monitoring was made optional in 2025, while acknowledging that cyclosporiasis is “a terrible, terrible disease.”
When asked by Murray if she would commit to reinstating mandatory reporting of cyclospora if confirmed, Schwartz replied, “You have my commitment to work with your staff and work with the CDC scientists to understand what can be done, why did it stop, and what can we do moving forward.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chairman of the Senate health committee, mentioned in his opening statement that Schwartz will need to rebuild public trust as it relates to ongoing and future public health issues, including the cyclosporiasis outbreak.
Since May, the CDC has been tracking an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection caused by Cyclospora that can cause gastrointestinal symptoms like watery diarrhea, according to the agency’s web page on the outbreak. The outbreak has led to 1,645 confirmed cases of the infection in 34 states, with an additional 5,100 cases that require further analysis.
In a press call on July 14, Gwen Biggerstaff, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, told reporters that the goal of FoodNet is to “look at trends over time to inform our policy and prevention activities.” The 2025 changes mean “FoodNet sites are no longer required to report FoodNet-specific data for cases of cyclosporiasis. Instead, they continue to participate in national surveillance.”
In 2025 the agency also disbanded the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, according to Politico. Recent reports have questioned whether the CDC cuts, including the scaling back of FoodNet, have impacted the agency’s ability to deal with outbreaks of cyclosporiasis and other infectious diseases.
The CDC did not respond to C&EN questions about cyclosporiasis disease monitoring or the FoodNet program by publication time.
Republicans and Democrats on the committee also asked Schwartz about her stance on vaccines and how she would handle political pressure from the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on his vaccine agenda. The senators cited former CDC director Susan Monarez’s disputes with the health secretary that led to her eventual firing.
“We need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization,” Cassidy said. Schwartz reiterated throughout the hearing that she will “never betray the science.”
