US declares end of largest recorded cyclosporiasis outbreak

The FDA says contaminated lettuce has been removed from the market after nearly 13,000 linked cases.

Boxes of Taylor Farms Lettuce sit stacked amid reports of slumping consumer confidence in lettuce and other fresh produce during the current cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened thousands across the US in Washington, DC, July 24, 2026 [Nathan Howard/Reuters]

United States health authorities have officially declared the nation’s largest recorded outbreak of cyclosporiasis over, after contaminated iceberg lettuce sickened nearly 13,000 people across 21 states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday it is confident that all recalled lettuce linked to the outbreak has been removed from the market.

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The CDC has recorded 12,883 cases linked to the outbreak, including 570 hospitalisations and two deaths .

Symptoms of a cyclosporiasis infection usually appear about a week after a person eats contaminated food or drinks contaminated water, although they can develop as early as two days or as late as two weeks after exposure.

The most common symptom is frequent, watery diarrhoea, but the infection can also cause loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps, bloating, gas, nausea and extreme tiredness.

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.

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. The previous record year was 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported.

Michigan was the hardest-hit state in the lettuce outbreak and accounted for the two deaths.

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. At the same time, the Food Safety Modernization Act rule designed to improve traceability of high-risk foods, including leafy greens, has been delayed until 2028.

The FDA said it has completed on-site inspections and sample collection at iceberg lettuce farms and a processing facility in Mexico, although laboratory analysis of those samples is still pending. The agency said it will continue working with state and federal officials in Mexico to investigate the outbreak.

美国食品药品监督管理局表示，在与近13000起病例相关的事件发生后，受污染的生菜已从市场上下架。

2026年7月24日，在华盛顿特区，泰勒农场的生菜箱堆放在一起，与此同时，有报道称，在环孢子虫病疫情爆发期间，消费者对生菜和其他新鲜农产品的信心正在下降，这场疫情已导致美国数千人患病。[Nathan Howard/路透社]

美国卫生部门正式宣布，该国历史上规模最大的环孢子虫病疫情已经结束。此前，受污染的卷心莴苣导致 21 个州的近 13000 人患病。

美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）周五表示，他们有信心所有与此次疫情相关的召回生菜都已从市场上移除。

美国公布的三份名单中的第一份显示，超过1400人感染了由环孢子虫引起的寄生虫病疫情。

美国宣布密歇根州出现首例环孢子虫病死亡病例（共3例，此为第2例）

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美国疾病控制与预防中心已记录到与疫情相关的 12883 例病例，其中包括 570 例住院病例和 2 例死亡病例。

环孢子虫病的症状通常在食用受污染的食物或饮用受污染的水后约一周出现，但最早可在接触后两天出现，最晚可在接触后两周出现。

最常见的症状是频繁的水样腹泻，但这种感染还会导致食欲不振、体重减轻、胃痉挛、腹胀、胀气、恶心和极度疲劳。

此次疫情的源头被追溯到泰勒农场墨西哥分公司从墨西哥中部采购的卷心莴苣。该公司于7月17日召回了该地区的所有卷心莴苣。最初，人们注意到塔可钟餐厅供应的莴苣，但联邦调查人员后来追踪到涉事莴苣来自泰勒农场，该公司将其产品分销到美国各地的餐馆和零售商。

疫情高峰期，单日报告感染病例超过1000例。到8月份，美国疾控中心表示，报告的感染病例已降至平均每天不到2例。

此次疫情是今年全美环孢子虫病病例空前激增的一部分。自5月1日以来，美国已报告近2万例实验室确诊病例，是去年同期记录病例数的16倍多。此前的最高纪录是2019年，当时报告的病例约为4700例。

密歇根州是此次生菜疫情中受影响最严重的州，也是造成两例死亡的州。

此次疫情再次引发了人们对美国食品安全管控的审视，包括政府在受污染农产品到达消费者手中之前识别它们的能力。近年来，美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）对外国食品企业的检查次数大幅下降。

美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）每年应检查超过19000个国际食品生产场所。据美国政府问责局（GAO）的数据显示，该机构2019年仅检查了1700个场所，创历史新高，但仍不到目标的十分之一。FDA直到调查开始约一个月后才对涉事的墨西哥农场进行检查。

特朗普政府还缩减了食品安全网络（FoodNet）的规模，停止了该项目对环孢子虫和其他五种病原体的强制性追踪。与此同时，旨在提高包括绿叶蔬菜在内的高风险食品可追溯性的《食品安全现代化法案》规则也被推迟到2028年实施。

美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）表示，已完成对墨西哥冰山莴苣农场和一家加工厂的现场检查和样本采集，但这些样本的实验室分析结果仍在等待中。该机构表示，将继续与墨西哥州和联邦官员合作，调查此次疫情。