Taco Bell removes lettuce as a United States cyclosporiasis outbreak grows

A cyclosporiasis outbreak caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis spread across the United States during the week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported cases in 31 states, and the Michigan health department first reported 2,640 cases in that state. A later national count from the CDC put the outbreak at 7,000 cases. Michigan's count then rose to 3,300 and later surpassed 5,000.

Investigators linked iceberg lettuce produced by Taylor Farms and supplied to Taco Bell to the outbreak. Taylor Farms recalled iceberg lettuce traced through a farm in Mexico. Taco Bell removed lettuce from some restaurants after reports that the Food and Drug Administration had opened an investigation into iceberg lettuce supplied to the chain. The recall and the menu change were reported as responses to the same illness.

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the parasite named in the health reports. The accounts tie this outbreak to that organism rather than to a virus or a bacterium. They do not describe how the lettuce became contaminated. They do not give a national death toll for the outbreak in these midweek reports.

Michigan also reported that hospitalizations linked to the outbreak had surpassed 100 people. That figure is a hospitalization count, not a case count. The case counts for Michigan and for the country were higher and were still being updated day by day. The direction of the reports was an increase, not a declared end to the outbreak.

The reports do not say that every illness in the 7,000-case national total was traced to one restaurant. They identify Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell as a linked source under investigation. They also record a recall of that lettuce. A link and a recall are narrower claims than a statement that all cases came from one chain.

No full list of all 31 states appears in the short national note. Michigan is the state with repeated case updates, moving from 2,640 to 3,300 and then past 5,000, with hospitalizations above 100. The national milestone in these reports is 7,000 cases. The food response on record is the Taylor Farms recall and the removal of lettuce at some Taco Bell restaurants.