US Declares Largest Recorded Cyclosporiasis Outbreak

United States health authorities have declared the country’s largest recorded outbreak of cyclosporiasis over, after contaminated iceberg lettuce was linked to nearly 13,000 infections across 21 states.

According to Al Jazeera, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, said on Friday that it was confident all recalled lettuce associated with the outbreak had been removed from the market.

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

Cyclosporiasis symptoms typically develop about a week after exposure to contaminated food or water, although they can appear as early as two days or as late as two weeks after infection.

Frequent, watery diarrhoea is the most common symptom, while infected people may also experience loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps, bloating, gas, nausea and severe tiredness.

Investigators traced the outbreak to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico by Taylor Farms de Mexico, which recalled its iceberg lettuce from the region on July 17.

The outbreak initially attracted attention after cases were linked to lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants. Federal investigators later traced the contaminated lettuce to Taylor Farms, which supplies restaurants and retailers across the United States.

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At the height of the outbreak, more than 1,000 infections were reported in a single day. By August, however, the CDC said the number of reported infections had dropped to fewer than two per day on average.

The outbreak came amid an unprecedented increase in cyclosporiasis infections across the US this year. Since May 1, nearly 20,000 laboratory-confirmed cases have been recorded nationwide, more than 16 times the number reported during the same period last year.

The previous annual record was set in 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported.

Michigan was the worst-affected state in the lettuce-related outbreak and recorded both deaths.

The incident has renewed questions over food safety controls in the United States, particularly the ability of authorities to detect contaminated produce before it reaches consumers.

Concerns have also been raised over declining inspections of foreign food facilities by the Food and Drug Administration, FDA.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the FDA is expected to inspect more than 19,000 international food facilities annually. However, the agency conducted a record 1,700 inspections in 2019, representing less than one-tenth of its target.

The FDA did not inspect the Mexican farm linked to the outbreak until about a month after the investigation began.

The Trump administration has also reduced the scope of FoodNet, ending mandatory tracking of Cyclospora and five other pathogens, while implementation of a Food Safety Modernization Act rule intended to improve traceability of high-risk foods, including leafy greens, has been postponed until 2028.

The FDA said it had completed on-site inspections and collected samples from iceberg lettuce farms and a processing facility in Mexico, although laboratory testing of the samples was still ongoing.

The agency said it would continue working with state and federal authorities in Mexico as investigations into the outbreak continue.