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The CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet, will trim its tracking of foodborne infections from eight pathogens to only two: Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), according to recent news from the CDC.

As of July 1, 2025, FoodNet reporting became optional for Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia, but other systems at CDC will continue to conduct national surveillance for these pathogens, a CDC spokesperson told Medscape Medical News, in an interview.

“Salmonella and STEC are among the top five contributors to foodborne illnesses and related hospitalizations and deaths in the United States, and they are among four pathogens included in Healthy People 2030’s goals to reduce foodborne illness,” the spokesperson said. Both pathogens are subjects of food safety rules and guidance from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Food Safety and Inspection Service and the FDA, the spokesperson added.

Narrowing FoodNet’s reporting requirements and associated activities to Salmonella and STEC will allow FoodNet staff to prioritize core activities, while maintaining FoodNet’s infrastructure and quality, the spokesperson said.

When asked whether the current reduction was a long-term change or whether other pathogens might be restored to FoodNet in the future, the spokesperson responded that CDC is “aligning investments with the most effective mix of systems while preserving FoodNet’s core strengths.” However, “the network remains ready to resume any paused activities as needs evolve,” they said.

The FoodNet program is a joint effort among the CDC, the FDA, the USDA , and health departments in 10 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, and some areas of New York and California, according to the CDC’s FoodNet website. FoodNet’s mission is to conduct population-based surveillance of laboratory-diagnosed infections from foodborne pathogens and review information including hospitalizations, patient health status, patient travel, and certain food and environmental exposures.

Public Health Predicament

The public health implications of the FoodNet cuts are devastating, said Shirin Mazumder, MD, an infectious diseases specialist in Memphis, Tennessee , in an interview.

“Tracking foodborne illness is crucial from a public health standpoint,” Mazumder told Medscape Medical News. “Foodborne pathogens have the potential to cause serious illness, and tracking pathogens allows analysis of trends and outbreak detection,” she said. “The removal of the surveillance network prevents an appropriate response to be implemented when foodborne pathogens are on the rise,” she said.

Some of the six pathogens that will no longer be under federal surveillance are capable of causing many types of invasive disease in addition to gastroenteritis, including bloodstream infections, meningitis, severe skin and soft tissue infections, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome, Mazumder noted.

“The foodborne pathogens that will no longer be tracked have the potential to cause serious harm and death to many people, especially the most vulnerable including newborns, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems,” said Mazumder. “The information that will no longer be collected will also impair our understanding of the infectious diseases caused by these pathogens,” she said.

Mazumder had no financial conflicts to disclose.