Cyclospora outbreak linked to Taco Bell shredded lettuce

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they may have found the source of a Cyclospora that has sickened more than 1,600 people in five states.

The agencies said they have linked the illnesses to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bells in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

The CDC said a total of 1,644 people have been infected with Cyclospora, with illnesses occurring from May 13 to July 13.

There have been 94 hospitalizations but no deaths.

Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that causes watery diarrhea, according to the CDC. Outbreaks tend to happen in the late spring and summer. It infects the bowels and spreads through feces. Typically, people get infected by eating fruits and vegetables that were irrigated with feces-contaminated water, The Associated Press reported.

A traceback investigation by the FDA indicated that the lettuce came from a single supplier in Mexico.

The agency is working with the supplier to determine if any of the lettuce is on the market. Taco Bell also vowed not to use lettuce from the supplier in question.

The restaurant chain said on Tuesday that it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities,” the AP reported.

It also released a statement on Thursday, which read, “The affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states.”

The FDA said that discrepancies between the case counts released by the agencies may not align with individual state data because states may count both confirmed and possible cases, whereas the federal agencies report only confirmed cases. Also, the FDA said that state data may not have been reported to the CDC, so the numbers reported by both the FDA and CDC will continue to rise. The CDC also counts illnesses that are not part of this specific outbreak, the FDA said.

The AP said more than 30 states have reported cyclospora infections.

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