Cyclospora outbreak reaches nine states, CDC says
The CDC says a shredded iceberg lettuce-linked cyclospora outbreak now includes nine states, with nearly 2,000 Taco Bell-linked cases counted.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
A cyclospora outbreak in nine states has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce, with federal health officials now counting 1,947 infected people who reported eating at Taco Bell in the affected states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
The newly linked states are Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, according to the CDC. They join Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Michigan, which has been hit hard in the outbreak.
The CDC said illnesses tied to the iceberg lettuce outbreak began on June 22 and continued through July 20. Federal figures can trail state counts, and some affected states have reported higher infection totals.
Which states are in the cyclospora outbreak?
The CDC has linked the shredded iceberg lettuce outbreak to nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Federal health officials have described it as the largest multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to shredded iceberg lettuce. The outbreak is also the largest cyclosporiasis outbreak reported in the U.S. this year, with thousands of illnesses nationwide, well above the roughly 200 to 1,000 cases typically reported each year.
What is cyclospora?
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that usually infects people through contaminated food or water. It causes cyclosporiasis, a stomach and intestinal illness that can include severe diarrhea, according to the CDC.
Some patients can require hospitalization. No deaths related to the parasite have been recorded this year, according to the report.
The Food and Drug Administration has focused on shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms as it investigates the outbreak. Last week, the FDA said Taylor Farms supplied the lettuce to Taco Bell restaurants where people ate before getting sick.
Taylor Farms issued a voluntary recall covering all iceberg lettuce sourced from its Guanajuato, Mexico facility, and Taco Bell removed the affected lettuce from its restaurants.
Mexican health authorities said Thursday that lettuce and water samples from Taylor Farms’ plant in central Mexico tested negative for cyclospora. That finding does not rule out the FDA’s earlier identification of Taylor Farms de Mexico as the likely source, according to federal officials, because the earliest known cases began in mid-May and the crop involved would have been shipped weeks earlier due to the parasite’s long incubation period.
The FDA is also investigating a separate cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to an unidentified food product or products. U.S. health and food agencies are still trying to determine the parasite’s sources and stop further spread.
Taylor Farms has faced criticism over its public response. CNBC reported that some health experts criticized the company’s recall notice because it used abbreviations and did not make it easy for consumers to tell whether they had bought or eaten a risky product.
After the FDA reported a false positive from Taylor Farms lettuce samples on Sunday, the company said the agency had apologized. The FDA later said it had not apologized to Taylor Farms and added that it still considered the company’s iceberg lettuce the likely source of the outbreak. Taylor Farms deleted the statement from X, though CNBC reported it remained on the company’s website.
Taylor Farms supplies lettuce and other produce to major retailers including Walmart, Target and Whole Foods, as well as restaurant chains including Taco Bell.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.