As cases of the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora rise across the US, former employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the country’s response is being severely hampered by personnel cuts at the agency. Amid mass government layoffs last year implemented by President Donald Trump and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the CDC lab that responds to outbreaks of the parasite cyclospora was downsized from 11 people to just three, according to Joel Barratt, a molecular parasitologist and assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine who previously led that team. “Based on simple math, these outbreak responses—which require rapid, timely responses—are going to be greatly diminished,” he tells WIRED. “Cyclospora is just one piece. It’s making the news right now, but there are other, more dangerous pathogens than cyclospora.” Barratt says he left the CDC voluntarily in September after working at the agency for eight years because he felt he could no longer “do right by public health” amid sweeping policy overhauls and staff purges under Health and Human Services secretary Robert …