The CDC and FDA are tracking at least two major outbreaks of infections from the Cyclospora parasite with a combined number of confirmed patients approaching 7,000.
The first outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is linked to Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce products and associated with Taco Bell restaurants. It has 1,947 patients spread across nine states. The Food and Drug Administration is reporting the same numbers.
There have been 98 documented cases of hospitalizations and no deaths. The most recent date of illness onset was July 20. Taylor Farms has recalled iceberg lettuce products from its central Mexico growing operations and Taco Bell stopped using Taylor Farms lettuce last week.
States with patients are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The lettuce products were distributed in the United States and Mexico. In the United States the recalled iceberg lettuce products were sold to a variety of restaurants in addition to Taco Bell and retailers including Walmart. Taco Bell is the only U.S. customer to issue a statement about its use or sale of Taylor Farms lettuce.
The U.S. distribution states are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia. According to the Food and Drug Administration the products may have been distributed further, reaching additional states.
For the second outbreak, the CDC is reporting 4,173 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis and is aware of more than 7,400 additional cases that are not yet laboratory confirmed and require further investigation and analysis. Many of the additional cases have been reported by Michigan and Ohio.
As of July 24, Michigan is reporting 8,176 with160 patients indicating they had been hospitalized. More hospitalizations will likely be reported as state officials continue to gather complete information from patients. Ohio is reporting more than 2,000 patients. It is not clear whether all of the Michigan and Ohio cases are from Taylor Farms lettuce.
A specific source of the parasite in the second outbreak has not yet been identified.
Both the FDA and the CDC are now reporting that the outbreaks began June 22 and ran through July 20. Until today both said May 13 through July 13. You can watch it happen on a single FDA page: the current update reads June 22, and the preserved July 16 entry three screens below it still reads May 13. Roughly six weeks of illnesses were inside the outbreak definition yesterday and are outside it today. The FDA attributes the rise in cases in part to the four new states, and says it can take as long as six weeks to determine whether a sick person belongs to this outbreak.
The discrepancies between the state numbers and the number of sick people being reported by the CDC is in part because the agency — under the direction of the Trump Administration — stopped counting Cyclospora infections as of July 1, 2025.
The FDA now says that the Taylor Farms recall reaches outside the United States, and that the firm’s own customer records show recalled product was sold to consumers in Mexico — the day after Mexico’s health ministry announced that its samples from the plant were negative.
On July 18 the FDA reported that a sample of Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce product tested positive for Cyclospora. On the following day the agency retracted that statement, saying the test showed a false positive. However, the FDA says the false positive does not change the basis for its investigation or the epidemiological data supporting the recall, and traceback and outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from central Mexican growers.
About Cyclospora
Anyone who has developed symptoms of Cyclospora infection, and has reason to believe they have been exposed to the parasite, should seek medical attention. Specific tests are required and antibiotics are used to fight the parasite.
Cyclospora infection can cause severe abdominal pain, watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, body aches, and fatigue. Symptoms can develop between two and 14 days after exposure. Though symptoms can be severe enough to send people to the hospital, it's rare for people to die from Cyclospora infections.
Cyclospora is a type of protozoa, which is a tiny, single-celled organism. It is transmitted when people somehow ingest contaminated feces, typically through contaminated food or water. It can be spread only through human waste, unlike E. coli and salmonella, which can also be spread from animal fecal matter.
