{"id":9917,"date":"2026-08-07T14:54:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T14:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=9917"},"modified":"2026-08-07T14:54:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T14:54:27","slug":"cyclosporiasis-probe-linked-to-lettuce-widens-to-these-us-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=9917","title":{"rendered":"Cyclosporiasis probe linked to lettuce widens to THESE US states"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

US health authorities have widened their probe into a cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico after detecting cases in six additional states, raising the total to 15 states, the FDA and CDC said on Wednesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly linked \u200bstates are Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire and North Carolina, the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick service restaurant chain Salad and Go filed for bankruptcy on \u200cTuesday, saying in a filing that it is closing down more than 70 of its remaining locations and citing the cyclospora outbreak as a factor, along with rising gas prices and reduced consumer spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. cyclosporiasis cases have climbed to record levels this year with the current outbreak among the largest caused by foodborne illness in recent U.S. history and health authorities continuing to look for sources of \u200bthe illness beyond iceberg lettuce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total case count associated with this multistate outbreak is now 6,358 illnesses reported from 15 states with at least 278 hospitalizations, \u200bCDC and FDA said. The agencies\u2019 surveillance lags state reporting by several weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FDA and the CDC first identified an outbreak in \u2060five states related to lettuce eaten at Yum Brands\u2019 Taco Bell restaurants. They later named Taylor Farms in central Mexico as the source of the lettuce. On July \u200b24, they widened the number of states in the outbreak to nine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyclosporiasis can be contracted by consuming food \u2014 typically raw fruits and vegetables \u2014 or water contaminated with feces and can \u200bcause diarrhea, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worst of the outbreak has occurred in Michigan<\/a>, where cases have ballooned since June and the state reported the first two deaths associated with the outbreak. It said both individuals had significant underlying health conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Read: Jalapenos tied to Salmonella outbreak in 27 US states<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Separately, Mexico\u2019s health ministry said it is investigating the tourist hub of Quintana Roo after British health authorities reported cases of cyclosporiasis in travelers who had stayed there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESTAURANT \u200bFOOTFALL DROPS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

U.S. consumers have been buying less lettuce and avoiding some restaurant chains as the outbreak raises concerns about food safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foot traffic at Taco Bell has declined every day \u200bsince July 13 except on July 28, when the chain ran a promotional event. Visits were down 11.1% on August 1 compared with the average for Saturdays between January 1 and July \u200c6, compared \u2060to a 19.1% fall the week prior, according to Placer.ai data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salad and Go has been closing down its locations since September 2025, exacerbated by high overhead costs and ongoing liquidity challenges, it said in the filing. At its peak, the company operated 146 total locations across Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said it is not alone in its financial struggles caused by the cyclospora outbreak, citing a report saying foot traffic at some of its competitors was reduced by between 3.15% and 11.5%. \u201cIn the fast-casual dining \u200bindustry, which operates on very tight margins, \u200ba drop in sales by that percentage \u2060is devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cases have risen steadily across the United States in recent months, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with reports from 47 states, as the CDC is investigating multiple clusters of cyclospora cases, including one multistate outbreak linked to \u200biceberg lettuce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michigan health officials reported 12,218 cases linked to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis on Wednesday, an increase of 710 cases since \u200bits last update a \u2060day earlier. The state also reported 193 hospitalizations as of July 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the Arkansas state health department also confirmed that it is one of the six new states the CDC is adding to the multistate outbreak. Arkansas has seen 205 cases of the infection as of Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Carolina has reported 149 new cases since July 28 with nine new \u2060hospitalizations, according to \u200bstate health department data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExposures to Taco Bell or lettuce make up a small proportion of the overall \u200bincrease in cyclosporiasis cases seen in North Carolina over recent months,\u201d the North Carolina state health department said in a statement, adding that a fall in new cases suggests the primary sources of exposure have already \u200bpassed through the food chain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US health authorities have widened their probe into a cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico after detecting cases in six additional states,..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-195339-1.png",899,506,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-195339-1-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-195339-1-300x169.png",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-195339-1-768x432.png",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-195339-1.png",899,506,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-195339-1.png",899,506,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-07-195339-1.png",899,506,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Health<\/a>","tag_info":"Health","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9919,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9917\/revisions\/9919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}