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FDA closes probe into lettuce-linked cyclosporiasis outbreak, detects Cyclospora in Mexico
News briefToday at 1:40 p.m.
Chris Dall, MA
Topics
Cyclospora
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has closed its investigation into this summer’s cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce grown in Mexico.
The FDA said in an update late last week that on-site inspections of farms and processing facilities that provided lettuce distributed by Taylor Farms de Mexico found two samples that tested positive for Cyclospora. One sample was from a tank at a processing facility that held outgoing wastewater, the other from a drainage ditch of an iceberg lettuce grower identified in the FDA’s trace-back investigation.
“While there is currently not enough evidence to conclusively determine how contamination occurred in this outbreak, the positive samples show that Cyclospora was present in the environment where lettuce was grown and processed,” the agency said, adding that the findings, along with epidemiologic and trace-back data, support the link between the outbreak and shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico.
Outbreak drives a spike in US cases
The company issued a recall and announced it was voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17. The FDA said it’s confident all lettuce tied to the outbreak is off the market.The outbreak of the parasitic illness, which causes explosive diarrhea, began in June and was declared over on September 11. Overall, at least 12,883 people in 21 states fell ill in the outbreak, with 570 hospitalizations and two deaths.
The outbreak drove a significant surge in US cyclosporiasis cases this summer. From May 1 through August 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reports of 19,883 lab-confirmed cases. During the same period in 2025, just 1,180 US cyclosporiasis cases were recorded.