The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the cyclospora outbreak that sickened hundreds across the United States since May has ended.
Epidemiologic and traceback data showed that iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico (a Taylor Farms central Mexico-based processor) was contaminated with cyclospora and made people sick with cyclosporiasis. The CDC report said that the best-by dates for these recalled products have passed and they are no longer available in stores or restaurants.
Additionally, the CDC said that the number of recent infections linked to the outbreak has significantly declined. The contaminated lettuce linked to this outbreak is no longer available in stores or restaurants.
The CDC says that at the peak of the outbreak, before the recall, more than 1,000 infections occurred in the U.S. in a single day.
From May 1, there were 512 cases confirmed in Florida with 79 of those in eight Southwest Florida counties. Two deaths were identified as part of the cyclosporiasis outbreak, both in Michigan.
CDC will not update data on this page after September 11. Because it can take up to 6 weeks after symptoms start for a case to be reported, infections acquired during this outbreak will still be reported to CDC as they are identified. Due to the unprecedented number of cases that occurred this season, cases that occurred earlier in the outbreak may continue to be reported to CDC beyond this 6-week time frame.
Since the last update on August 27, 2026, CDC saw a significant decrease in recent infections linked to the outbreak. At the peak of the outbreak, before the recall, more than 1,000 infections occurred in a single day. On average, fewer than 2 infections per day occurred during August.
Most of these illnesses began before the Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce recall on July 17. The total case count associated with this multistate outbreak was 12,883 illnesses reported from 21 states. Since the last update, 1 additional state was added: Virginia.
Illnesses linked to this outbreak began on June 14 and onset dates continued through August 17. There were at least 570 hospitalizations reported overall. Two deaths were reported in Michigan. Of note, the total number of cases included sick people who traveled to one of the 21 states but reside in different states.
The true number of sick people in this multistate outbreak was likely higher than the number reported. This is because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for Cyclospora. States in this outbreak may have shown different illness counts on their websites. CDC and FDA only reported laboratory confirmed cases.
FDA continues to investigate how the product linked to this multistate outbreak became contaminated with Cyclospora. FDA may post updates to their website while their investigation continues.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
