Federal health agencies expand cyclosporiasis outbreak to 15 states

Recall covers iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico

The newly included states are Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire and North Carolina. They join Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, bringing the outbreak’s reach to 15 states.

The outbreak is centered in Michigan and involves shredded iceberg lettuce sold at Taco Bell restaurants and some grocery stores. Federal officials linked the lettuce to Taylor Farms in central Mexico.

Laboratory testing by the CDC indicated that illnesses in the six newly included states were probably caused by the same strain of the Cyclospora parasite. Many of those illnesses likely began before the recall.

Taylor Farms de Mexico announced July 17 that it was voluntarily recalling all iceberg lettuce from the affected area. The recall covered shredded lettuce used in Taco Bell products and salad kits sold at some grocery stores. Taco Bell said it was removing shredded lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms in affected states.

The linked case count rose from 2,000 on July 24 to at least 6,358 on Wednesday. The CDC said the number of confirmed cases could continue to increase because federal and state officials can take as long as six weeks to determine whether a sick person belongs to the outbreak.

“We are just counting people who were already sick,” Bill Marler, a Seattle-based attorney and food safety advocate, told CNN. “Now comes the linking to Taylor Farms or other products.”

The outbreak-linked count is separate from the broader number of illnesses reported nationwide. The CDC said more than 10,000 laboratory-confirmed cyclosporiasis cases occurred across 47 states between May 1 and Aug. 4. Michigan’s health department said Tuesday that the state had 11,508 suspected cases.

Michigan has the only two confirmed deaths from the illness, which is not usually fatal. Cyclosporiasis is caused by the Cyclospora cayetanensis parasite and spreads through food or water contaminated by feces from an infected person.

Symptoms include sudden, watery diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, severe stomach cramps, loss of appetite and fatigue. Symptoms can take up to two weeks to appear after a person eats contaminated food.