Across more than thirty American states, thousands of people have fallen ill from a microscopic parasite traced to a single supplier of shredded lettuce served at Taco Bell locations throughout the Midwest — a quiet outbreak that grew for months before federal authorities could name its origin. The CDC's confirmation that cyclospora traveled from Mexican fields through a single distribution chain to restaurant tables in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia is a reminder of how invisibly the modern food supply connects distant places and unsuspecting people. With infection count
CDC links Taco Bell lettuce to cyclospora outbreak across five U.S. states
Thousands of consumers across 30+ U.S. states infected with cyclospora parasite causing severe gastrointestinal illness, though typically treatable with antibiotics.