Overview
- Federal investigators and state health departments tied a large multistate cluster to shredded iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico by Taylor Farms de Mexico and served at some Taco Bell restaurants, a link expanded to 15 states in early August.
- The outbreak is unusually large this season with the CDC reporting about 22,700 domestic reports and 10,468 laboratory-confirmed cases while Michigan — the epicenter — has documented 12,485 cases, 279 hospitalizations and two deaths.
- Taylor Farms de Mexico issued a voluntary recall of all iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico on July 17 and affected restaurants and some retailers removed the product, with federal officials saying recalled lettuce tied to this cluster is off the market.
- Public health confirmation has lagged because Cyclospora requires specialized stool testing, cannot be easily cultured and offers limited material for genetic matching, which means laboratory proof on food samples has been sparse and case counts are still rising.
- Michigan has eased its earlier broad lettuce-avoidance guidance as new cases and diarrhea-related emergency visits decline, but federal and state agencies continue interviews, tracebacks and separate probes into other produce-linked Cyclospora clusters.