The FDA and CDC now count 1,947 people sickened by the parasite Cyclospora after eating at Taco Bell locations in nine states, with at least 98 hospitalizations and no deaths, according to the FDA’s July 24 outbreak update. Investigators have traced the illnesses to shredded iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico, which Taylor Farms de Mexico pulled from the U.S. market in a voluntary recall on July 17.
The nine states reporting cases are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Illness onsets run from June 22 through July 20.
Key takeaways
- 1,947 illnesses, 98 hospitalizations and no deaths so far, across nine states, per the FDA and CDC.
- Taylor Farms de Mexico recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17. Product went out to 27 other states between June 29 and July 16.
- No product sample has tested positive for the parasite. A sample reported positive on July 18 was later called a false positive.
What happened
Taylor Farms de Mexico, based in Guanajuato, announced on July 17 that it was removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico. The recall covers Marketside-brand items sold at select Walmart stores, listed as Iceberg Salad in 12-ounce and 24-ounce sizes and Shredded Lettuce in 8-ounce and 16-ounce sizes, with Best if Used By dates from July 18 to August 3, 2026. Taco Bell says it stopped using lettuce from that supplier on July 17.
The case count jumped partly because four new states were added to the outbreak. The FDA expects the number to keep rising even after the recall, because it can take up to six weeks for state and federal officials to confirm that a sick person belongs to this outbreak.
One detail has drawn attention. A lettuce sample from Taylor Farms de Mexico was reported positive on July 18. FDA lab experts re-reviewed it and concluded on July 19 that the signal was a false positive. As of that date, no product sample had confirmed positive for Cyclospora. The FDA said the retraction does not change the basis for the investigation, and that traceback and epidemiology still converge on the same lettuce.
Dr. Kumar’s take
Two assumptions are making this outbreak worse than it needs to be, and I want to correct both.
The first is that washing your produce protects you. Cyclospora cayetanensis is a parasite, not a bacterium. It arrives on produce as an oocyst, which sticks tightly to leaf surfaces and shrugs off a rinse at the kitchen sink. Chlorine washes used in commercial processing do not reliably kill it either. Once contaminated shredded lettuce reaches a restaurant, there is no home step that fixes it. That is why a recall is the intervention here, and why “I always rinse my salad” is not reassurance.
The second is that this is regular food poisoning you can wait out. It usually is not. Cyclosporiasis tends to cause watery diarrhea that relapses. It can quiet down for a few days, then come roaring back, along with cramping, bloating, appetite loss, weight loss and a flattening fatigue. The FDA notes complications can last from a few days to a month or longer. Untreated, some people cycle for weeks. There is a specific treatment, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and it works well. Waiting it out is the wrong instinct.
The negative product tests do not exonerate the lettuce. Cyclospora is notoriously hard to recover from produce. The oocysts are present in tiny numbers, spread unevenly across a lot, and by the time investigators get a sample the implicated product has usually been eaten or thrown out. A negative result mostly tells you the test is insensitive. I have made a similar point about how detection limits shape what a result can mean in writing about PSA screening for prostate cancer. Here the traceback data is the stronger evidence, and 1,947 cases converging on one supplier is hard to explain any other way.
What it means for you
If you have recalled lettuce at home, throw it out and clean the surfaces and containers it touched. Refunds are available where you bought it.
If you ate shredded iceberg lettuce in the two weeks before getting sick and you have diarrhea, call your doctor and say exactly that. Ask about stool testing for Cyclospora, because it is not picked up on routine stool cultures and has to be looked for on purpose. That request is what gets you the right test and the right prescription instead of being told to hydrate and wait.
Watch for dehydration, especially in kids, older adults and anyone immunocompromised, since those groups tend to get sicker and stay sick longer. And if your symptoms fade and then return, that is not a new illness. That is the pattern, and it is a reason to be seen rather than to assume you are on the mend.