A customer buys cilantro at a Walmart Supercenter on July 23, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the nation’s largest outbreak of cyclosporiasis linked to shredded iceberg lettuce has spread to nine states.
The newly aligned states of Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania will join Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and hard-hit Michigan. Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that causes cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal disease that usually spreads to people through contaminated food or water and causes symptoms such as severe diarrhea. No deaths related to the parasite have been recorded this year, although patients may require hospitalization.
The outbreak is already the largest cyclosporiasis case reported in the United States this year, with thousands of infections recorded across the country. This is far higher than the approximately 200 to 1,000 cases typically reported annually.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is investigating another outbreak of cyclosporiasis linked to an unidentified food. The United States is investigating the source of the parasite and trying to stop its spread, as some experts say confusion over the outbreak response and staff cuts have made it difficult to contain the outbreak.
President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States would impose “massive tariffs” on Mexico “for lettuce,” in what was apparently his first public comment on the outbreak. It’s unclear whether he was serious or not.
U.S. health and food regulators focused on shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by California-based privately held Taylor Farms from a factory in central Mexico.
Mexican health authorities announced Thursday that lettuce and water samples taken from the facility tested negative for Cyclospora. However, the results do not disprove the Food and Drug Administration’s previous identification of the Taylor Farm in Mexico as the likely source of the outbreak.
The earliest cases began showing symptoms in mid-May. Furthermore, the long incubation period for infection means that the offending crop would have been in circulation several weeks ago.
Last week, the FDA announced that the produce giant supplied shredded iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell restaurants, where people ate it before they became ill. Taylor Farms announced a voluntary recall of all iceberg lettuce sourced from its facility in Guanajuato, Mexico, and Taco Bell has removed the affected lettuce from its restaurants.
To date, the CDC has tallied 1,947 people in nine states with Cyclospora who have reported eating at Taco Bell. The outbreak associated with iceberg lettuce began on June 22 and lasted until July 20, according to the CDC. The federal government’s tally lags behind state counts, so some states hit by the outbreak are reporting even higher numbers of cases.
However, Taylor Farms has drawn criticism for its handling of the outbreak. Some health experts criticized the recall notice, which included abbreviations that made it difficult for consumers to understand whether they had purchased or eaten a product that was at risk.
After the FDA reported a false positive on a lettuce sample from Taylor Farms on Sunday, the company issued a statement saying health officials had apologized. The FDA has since clarified that it has not apologized to Taylor Farms, and the company removed the statement regarding X, although it is still available on the company’s website. The agency also said it believes the company’s iceberg lettuce remains a likely source of infection.
Taylor Farms supplies lettuce and other produce to major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods, as well as restaurant chains such as Taco Bell.
