Officials widen lettuce-linked cyclospora outbreak probe to 20 states

Cases of a parasitic illness linked to iceberg lettuce have been confirmed in 20 states, health officials said, as the largest outbreak of the disease in U.S. history keeps growing.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that cyclosporiasis cases have been identified in three additional states: Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.

The total number of people sickened by the parasite is now 11,458, up from about 10,900 reported last week.

Epidemiologic data has confirmed that iceberg lettuce sourced from a Taylor Farms central Mexico-based processor was contaminated with the cyclospora parasite and made people sick. Taylor Farms is the world’s largest producer of salads and fresh-cut vegetables.

The affected products have been recalled and the best-by dates have passed. The FDA said it is confident that all recalled ⁠iceberg lettuce has been removed from the market.

Illnesses linked to the outbreak began June 14, and onset dates have continued through Aug. 15, the agencies said.

There have been at least 495 hospitalizations, along with two deaths previously reported in Michigan.

The FDA says its staff remain on-site in Mexico, testing and inspecting lettuce in the fields and the processing facility, in coordination with Mexican officials.

Cyclosporiasis is a foodborne infection caused by a parasite that’s typically spread through food or water contaminated with human feces. Not everyone who is exposed will display symptoms, but the main one is frequent and watery diarrhea.

Outbreaks tend to occur most often in the late spring and summer. Cases are notoriously difficult to track, and sometimes a specific cause is never identified.

The country usually sees a few hundred to a thousand cases at most in a given year. However, the previous worst year in the U.S. for infections was 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported nationally.