Michigan lifts a lettuce warning as Taylor Farms extends a jalapeño recall

Michigan reported the first two deaths of the current cyclosporiasis outbreak, caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis. The deaths were the first attributed to this outbreak in that state's reporting. The note does not give the ages of the people who died. It marks a change from earlier reports that had counted cases and hospitalizations without these deaths.

Later in the week, Michigan health officials lifted an advisory against eating lettuce in the state. They cited a decline in cyclosporiasis cases. A lifted advisory is not a statement that every risk has disappeared. It is the step officials reported after the decline.

Taylor Farms extended its recalls to products containing jalapeños after those products were linked to an ongoing salmonellosis outbreak in the United States. The company already had a recall of iceberg lettuce linked to cyclosporiasis. The jalapeño recall is tied to salmonella, a different organism from Cyclospora.

The two recalls therefore address two illnesses. One is the parasite outbreak associated with iceberg lettuce. The other is a bacterial outbreak associated with jalapeño products. The report does not say the jalapeño products caused the cyclosporiasis deaths. It keeps the links with the organisms named.

No national death toll for cyclosporiasis is updated in the Michigan note beyond the first two deaths there. No case count for the salmonella outbreak is given with the jalapeño recall. The food facts are the recall extension, the existing lettuce recall, and the state's decision to lift its lettuce advisory after a decline.

Restaurants are not given a new instruction in the jalapeño note beyond the recall of products. No list of every product name is included in the short report. The confirmed actions are two deaths, a lifted lettuce advisory after fewer cases, and an extended recall covering jalapeño products linked to salmonella.