Overview
- Public health officials say this season’s Cyclospora surge is the largest on record with roughly 13,895 laboratory‑confirmed cases and more than 24,000 total reported illnesses, and they warn totals will likely keep rising because lab confirmation and reporting lag by weeks.
- Federal traceback and patient interviews linked the largest cluster to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico, and the company issued a voluntary recall of lettuce sourced from central Mexico that officials say is now off the market.
- FDA investigators traveled to Taylor Farms’ Guanajuato, Mexico, operations this week to examine processing and fields, but laboratory confirmation on food samples is sparse and a previously reported FDA positive test for lettuce was later withdrawn.
- Michigan has been the epicenter with about 13,900 state cases, several hundred hospitalizations, and two deaths reported in patients with serious underlying conditions, and state data show case reporting and test backlogs have complicated the timeline of illness.
- Political oversight is intensifying as Senator Elizabeth Warren has requested records about White House and FDA contacts with Taylor Farms, citing the company’s political donations, while retailers and restaurants that received large shipments face sales and supply fallout.