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How lucky we would be if we could blame all the suffering and death from this pandemic on just one person. As then we would not need to consider how our leaders and institutions and employers and systems (and even friends) abandoned us. Yes, how lucky we would be.

Based on current data the CDC has received reports of over 19,200 cyclospora cases (with most not yet confirmed), which is just further proof that slashing funding at the CDC and FDA, while making monitoring of cyclospora optional, was an explosively shitty idea.

When you hear it said: “Look, I don't want to play down the effects of the virus, but at the end of the day it had a roughly 1 percent mortality rate. We coulda gotten through this.” it is vital to remember the millions of people who did not get through this.

I keep hearing it said that it is important to understand that many people still have not gotten over Covid-era lockdowns, but whenever I say that it is important to understand that Covid is still here many people tell me to just get over it already.

My aunt, the doctor, told me a new joke. She asked: Why are these Senators so focused on public health’s past? I said I did not know. So she answered: Because these Senators don’t want to talk about public health’s present or future. And then neither of us laughed.

Due to today’s hearing many people seem quite interested in Covid again, but don’t try to tell them cases are rising again for that’s something they’ve no interest in hearing.

I have heard that the tale of the hiker who hiked 10 miles down a mountain after impaling himself is a case study in bravery and endurance, and I have heard that the tale of this hiker needing to setup a GoFundMe is a case study in how nobody can afford medical care.

My brother-in-law called me to insist that this hearing proves the pandemic was a huge conspiracy, and so I replied by reminding him that he always insists “Covid is just a cold,” and I could tell he didn’t like this reply.

A friend asked if the lettuce is okay. A friend asked if the parsley is okay. A friend asked if the eggs are okay. A friend asked if the cilantro is okay. My friends none of this is okay.

Please note: when remembering Covid it is essential to remember that Covid is still with us.

According to new polling some 40% of Americans have changed their eating/buying habits because of the cyclospora outbreak, and while I understand that the level of risk varies across regions, I still cannot quite decide if 40% is depressingly low, or impressively high.

Look, I understand that between the wildfires and cyclospora and the heat and rising costs and the war and the Ebola outbreak and the spread of AI and rising fascism and and and that you have more than enough to worry about, but please know Covid cases are rising too.

As I walked in the bookshop I said out loud: “oh, cool,” upon seeing their impressive Corsi-Rosenthal box, and the man at the counter after hearing me asked “what was that?” but by that point I had noticed that it was not actually plugged in so I just said: “oh, nothing.”

On the topic of the cyclospora outbreak a former FDA official stated: “it is starting to approach a catastrophic level in terms of how mismanaged it’s been,” but considering this administration’s catastrophic mismanagement of the COVID pandemic this is hardly a surprise.

According to the data from flight trackers July 23rd was the busiest day for commercial air travel ever recorded, and in other news, as this summer of extreme heat continues multiple countries are being consumed by wildfires, but that is probably just a coincidence.

Whenever someone laughs my friend’s three-year-old shouts: “not funny,” and as my friend and I exchanged a bleak laugh while discussing the state of the world his three-year-old child shouted: “not funny,” and the child was right, alas, the child really was right.

When they complain to you about how the smoke from over there has wound up here, and how the cyclospora from over there has wound up here, calmly but firmly reply: that disasters and outbreaks understand that we’re in this together, even if too many of us don’t.

As we stood in line the masked woman in front of me looked back at my masked face and politely asked: “surveillance, smoke, or sickness?” and though I probably should have thought of a nuanced response instead, I just nodded, and with a laugh she nodded back.

She sighed: “it’s getting worse,” and I could not tell if she was describing the cyclospora outbreak or the Ebola outbreak, the dangerous heat or the war, the uptick in Covid cases or the cost of living, and so I simply replied: yeah. * The 332nd week librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2026/07/24/p...

Plague Poems – The Three-Hundred-and-Thirty-Second WeekIt is quite understandable, my friend, if at this point you are feeling burnt out from trying to stay safe in the face of all these public health crises, but please, my friend, do keep taking care …librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com

If they respond to your concerned face by asking “what’s eating you?” calmly but firmly reply: between cyclospora in lettuce, parsley, and cilantro; the salmonella egg recall; screw worm in cattle; and fertilizer shipping issues; what’s eating you is what we are eating.