2026-08-30
The US Department of Agriculture is shuttering two of three federal research projects studying cyclospora after the parasite sickened more than 17,000 Americans since May 1, according to a Sunday Politico report cited by The Guardian. The two defunded projects lost congressional appropriations for fiscal 2026, while the third is set to be relocated from Maryland to Iowa as part of a broader USDA reorganization, Politico reported.
2026-08-25
Cava Group finance chief Tricia Tolivar said the Mediterranean fast-casual chain's sales slipped late in the quarter ended July 12 as summer cyclospora outbreaks weighed on restaurant traffic, before recovering to mid-single-digit growth by early August. She attributed the rebound to a three-person food-safety advisory council and a varied menu that allowed guests worried about greens to switch to grains and pitas, according to the Wall Street Journal.
2026-08-10
Joan Rose, a professor of water research at Michigan State University, said the nationwide cyclospora outbreak is very likely a result of sewage contamination in the food supply. Rose, who collects and tests sewage for harmful pathogens, published the analysis on Aug. 10. The outbreak has sickened more than 22,000 people and contributed to two deaths in Michigan.
2026-08-05
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that a cyclosporiasis outbreak has expanded to 15 states, with at least 6,358 cases linked to recalled shredded iceberg lettuce. Six states were newly included in the outbreak, which officials connected to lettuce sourced by Taylor Farms in central Mexico.
2026-08-01
More than 900 people in Washtenaw County, Michigan, have been sickened with cyclosporiasis since mid-June, and public health nurse Linda Kim has been conducting detailed interviews with patients to trace the source of the outbreak. Kim, a nurse at the county health department, has spoken to more than 100 of the sickened individuals, many of whom describe the illness as one of the worst they have experienced.
2026-07-24
Monroe County, Michigan, has recorded 286 cyclosporiasis cases, making it one of the hardest-hit areas in the largest Cyclospora outbreak in U.S. history, which has reached 4,173 confirmed cases across 41 states. Residents describe weeks of diarrhea, severe cramping and frequent trips to the bathroom, while authorities have not identified the contaminated food driving the outbreak.
2026-07-22
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 4,100 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis across 41 states on Wednesday, more than double the total from a week earlier, including 308 hospitalizations and no deaths.
2026-07-19
The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that a sample of iceberg lettuce from supplier Taylor Farms tested positive for the Cyclospora parasite, providing the first direct link to a food source in an outbreak that has sickened thousands across the United States, the agency said Sunday.
2026-07-16
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention downgraded active surveillance for Cyclospora cayetanensis to optional in July 2025, a decision that left public health authorities unable to detect the scale of a fast-growing parasitic outbreak until weeks after contaminated food had likely reached consumers, according to Dr. Robert B. Shpiner, a clinical professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who detailed the timeline in a commentary published Thursday in The Guardian. As of July 15, the CDC had confirmed 1,645 domestically acquired cases across 34 states with 141 hospitalizations, and was tracking more than 5,100 additional suspected cases.