A customer buys cilantro at a Walmart Supercenter on July 23, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the nation’s largest outbreak of cyclosporiasis linked to shredded iceberg lettuce has spread to nine states.
The newly aligned states of Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania will join Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and hard-hit Michigan. Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that causes cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal disease that usually infects people through contaminated food or water and causes symptoms such as severe diarrhea. No deaths related to the parasite have been recorded this year, although patients may require hospitalization.
The outbreak is already the largest cystosis outbreak reported in the United States this year, with thousands of infections recorded across the country. This is far higher than the approximately 200 to 1,000 cases typically reported each year.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is investigating another outbreak of cyclosporiasis linked to an unidentified food. The United States is investigating the source of the parasite and trying to stop it from spreading, as confusion over its response to the outbreak and some experts cutting back on the virus make it difficult to contain the virus.
U.S. health and food regulators focused on shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms.
Mexican health authorities announced Thursday that lettuce and water samples taken from the Taylor Farms plant in central Mexico tested negative for Cyclospora. However, the results do not disprove the Food and Drug Administration’s previous identification of the Taylor Farm in Mexico as the likely source of the outbreak.
The earliest cases began showing symptoms in mid-May. Furthermore, the long incubation period for infection means that the offending crop would have been in circulation several weeks ago.
The FDA announced last week that the food giant supplied shredded iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell restaurants and that people ate there before becoming ill. Taylor Farms announced a voluntary recall of all iceberg lettuce sourced from its facility in Guanajuato, Mexico, and Taco Bell has removed the affected lettuce from its restaurants.
The CDC has tallied 1,947 cases of Cyclospora in nine states who reported eating at Taco Bell. The outbreak associated with iceberg lettuce began on June 22 and lasted until July 20, according to the CDC. The federal government’s tally lags behind state counts, so some states hit by the outbreak are reporting even higher numbers of cases.
However, Taylor Farms has drawn criticism for its handling of the outbreak. Some health experts criticized the recall notice, which included abbreviations that made it difficult for consumers to understand whether they had purchased or eaten a product that was at risk.
After the FDA reported a false positive on a lettuce sample from Taylor Farms on Sunday, the company issued a statement saying health officials had apologized. The FDA has since clarified that it has not apologized to Taylor Farms, and the company removed the statement about X, although it is still visible on its website. The agency also said it believes the company’s iceberg lettuce remains a likely source of infection.
Taylor Farms supplies lettuce and other produce to major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods, as well as restaurant chains such as Taco Bell.
