US declares end of largest cyclosporiasis outbreak after 12,883 cases

September 11, 2026 at 10:35 PM2 min

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The CDC declared the largest recorded US cyclosporiasis outbreak over on Friday, after contaminated iceberg lettuce sickened 12,883 people across 21 states. The outbreak caused 570 hospitalisations and two deaths in Michigan. The FDA says all recalled lettuce linked to the outbreak has been removed from the market.

Key Facts

The CDC recorded 12,883 cases linked to the outbreak, including 570 hospitalisations and two deaths.
The outbreak was traced to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico by Taylor Farms de Mexico, which recalled all of its iceberg lettuce from the region on July 17.
Since May 1, nearly 20,000 laboratory-confirmed cyclosporiasis cases have been reported in the US, more than 16 times the number recorded during the same period last year.
Michigan was the hardest-hit state in the lettuce outbreak and accounted for the two deaths.
The FDA did not inspect the Mexican farm implicated in the outbreak until about a month after the investigation began.

Outbreak Scale

The CDC has recorded 12,883 cases linked to the outbreak, including 570 hospitalisations and two deaths. At its peak, more than 1,000 infections were reported in a single day. By August, the CDC said reported infections had fallen to fewer than two per day on average. The outbreak was part of an unprecedented rise in cyclosporiasis cases nationwide this year. Since May 1, nearly 20,000 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported in the US, more than 16 times the number recorded during the same period last year.

Source and Recall

The outbreak was traced to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico by Taylor Farms de Mexico, which recalled all of its iceberg lettuce from the region on July 17. It initially drew attention to lettuce served at Taco Bell locations, but federal investigators later traced the implicated lettuce to Taylor Farms, which distributes its products to restaurants and retailers across the US. The FDA says contaminated lettuce has been removed from the market after nearly 13,000 linked cases. The previous record year was 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported.

Food Safety Scrutiny

The outbreak has renewed scrutiny of US food-safety controls, including the government’s ability to identify contaminated produce before it reaches consumers. FDA inspections of foreign food facilities have declined substantially in recent years. The FDA is supposed to inspect more than 19,000 international food sites annually. The agency hit an all-time high of 1,700 in 2019, less than one-tenth of the target, according to the Government Accountability Office. The FDA did not inspect the Mexican farm implicated in the outbreak until about a month after the investigation began. The Trump administration has also scaled back FoodNet, stopping the programme’s mandatory tracking of Cyclospora and five other pathogens.