Barrett and His Buddies Trump and RFK Are Making Michiganders Sick

Lansing, Mich. – As families across Michigan grapple with dangerous air quality and a cyclosporiasis outbreak causing severe diarrhea and hospitalizations, the Trump administration and Rep. Tom Barrett continue putting people in harm’s way. Recently, Barrett brought HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to mid-Michigan, even as Kennedy’s department oversees the cuts to CDC and public health surveillance systems that help detect, track and contain outbreaks before more families get sick. And experts agree that the Canadian wildfires causing the extreme smoke are exacerbated by climate change, which the Trump administration denies. Climate Power can make expert Michael E. Mann available for interviews by request.

Climate Power Michigan Director Tom Lenard issued the following statement: 

“Filling up a tank of gas or opening up a utility bill already makes Michiganders nauseous, and now even trying to go for a walk or eat a salad makes us sick thanks to the Trump administration and Rep. Tom Barret’s unwillingness to stand up to it. These high prices, food safety risks, and unbreathable air are no accidents – they are the result of mismanaged priorities that put profits and politics over people.”

According to recent reports: 

• “Michigan tops the U.S. in the number of cases of people with diarrhea caused by the cyclospora parasite. On July 15, it reported 3,762 cases, a 13.7% increase in a single day.” Detroit Free Press, July 15, 2026
  • Shiawassee County: 307 cases per 100,000 people
  • Clinton County: 88 cases per 100,000 people
  • Ingham County: 76 cases per 100,000 people

• “Similarly, global warming may also be lengthening the seasonal transmission window of certain bacteria and viruses that cause gastrointestinal illnesses. In this vein, public health experts have long warned that a warming climate could contribute to larger spikes in the spread of cases of diseases such as cyclosporiasis.” Forbes, July 14, 2026
• “Watching the surveillance systems kind of get gutted, my No. 1 prediction was ‘screwworms (are) going to end up in the U.S.,’ ” Roberts said. “And they did. My No. 2 prediction is … we’re going to see all those things that FoodNet was tracing that we’ve just decided to cut all that funding (for) because the people doing the cuts don’t understand the importance of the systems.”
  • Jill Roberts, a professor of environmental health biology in the University of South Florida College of Public Health. WUSF/NPR, July 14, 2026

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