Since May 1, the CDC had received 1,645 laboratory-confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis across 34 states.
A California lettuce supplier to fast-food giant Taco Bell is being investigated as a possible source for a nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak in the United States, multiple news outlets reported Thursday.
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Cyclosporiasis Figures Surge in the United States
Two individuals familiar with the investigation told the Washington Post that investigators have identified shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell restaurants by Taylor Farms as a potential source of contamination in this parasitic disease outbreak.
Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this week that they have identified a likely link among cyclosporiasis cases in four states — Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky — marking the agency’s clearest public indication yet that many of the illnesses are connected to a common source.
“The signal we have gotten is that there is a very high percentage of people who got sick at Taco Bell, and when investigators asked what their menu items were in common, lettuce came up frequently,” said the report, citing one of the individuals.
Federal health officials say Taylor Farms is the likely source of the nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened people in at least 34 states. The California supplier provides lettuce to Taco Bell and major retailers including Walmart, Target and Whole Foods.… pic.twitter.com/20YXdHme7G
— CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) July 17, 2026
A traceback investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that people who contracted cyclosporiasis had eaten the lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms to Taco Bell outlets in five states. Taylor Farms, based in Salinas, California, is a supplier to several major restaurant chains across the country.
Cyclosporiasis reports are rising rapidly in the United States, as state and local health systems have logged far more cases than federal counts, and a large case analysis backlog remains, the CDC said earlier this week.
Since May 2, the CDC had received 1,645 laboratory-confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis across 34 states, with 141 hospitalizations and no deaths, in addition to more than 5,100 reports requiring analysis before they could be classified as domestically acquired.
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a very high percentage of people who got sick at Taco Bell, and when investigators asked what their menu items were in common, lettuce came up frequently
I bet tortillas and cheese were also frequently included in food those people ate from Taco Bell.
Right, and of those three items, cyclosporiasis is only really a problem in uncooked foods, specifically produce since it’s likelier to come into contact with feces-contaminated water. In the case of Taco Bell, that leaves pretty much just the tomatoes and the lettuce.
