Key background
Thousands of people have been sickened since May with cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness since dubbed the “explosive diarrhea parasite.” A majority of infections are in Michigan, which alone is reporting 4,312 cases and 102 hospitalizations, but people in 34 states have been impacted. Fear quickly spread across the country as cases climbed without any confirmation of where they were coming from, until the CDC on Thursday confirmed the link with the Taco Bell restaurants. The chain has since stopped serving the lettuce in the impacted states.
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WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
Where else cyclosporiasis could be coming from. The CDC says more than 1,600 of the estimated 7,000 people sickened in the outbreak reported eating at the Taco Bell restaurants, but the other roughly 3,400 patients didn’t. Since the illness doesn’t spread person-to-person, they also ingested something infected with the cyclospora parasite. The FDA is working to find out where else the contaminated lettuce may have been distributed, but Taylor Farms sells products in tens of thousands of grocery stores and to thousands of restaurant locations across the country, making tracing difficult.
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further reading
ForbesTaco Bell Lettuce Linked To Multistate Cyclosporiasis Outbreak—But Not Every Sick Person Ate ThereBy Mary Whitfill Roeloffs
ForbesTaco Bell Warned Investors About Cyclosporiasis Before The Outbreak—And These Other Chains Did TooBy Mary Whitfill RoeloffsForbesSweetgreen, Chipotle And More Stocks Fall During Cyclospora OutbreakBy Zachary Folk