On September 11, 2026, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the national cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce to be over, with a total of 12,883 illnesses across 21 states, including 570 hospitalizations and two deaths.

According to CDC, there has been a significant decrease in recent infections linked to the outbreak. At the peak of the outbreak, before a recall was issued, more than 1,000 infections occurred in a single day. In August, fewer than two infections per day occurred on average. The agency concluded, “At this time, there is no risk of people getting sick with cyclosporiasis from this source.”

Outbreak-associated illnesses were reported in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

FDA Continues Root Cause Investigation, Outbreak Response Activities

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) outbreak investigation continues, however, centered on Taylor Farms of Mexico/Taylor Fresh Foods, the grower/supplier of the implicated lettuce. The agency is also beginning post-outbreak response activities. FDA’s recent and ongoing actions related to this outbreak include:

• Completed onsite inspections and sample collection at iceberg lettuce growers and the processing facility in Mexico; analysis of samples is pending
• Root cause investigation activities at Taylor Farms of Mexico, the learnings of which will be incorporated into FDA’s Cyclospora Prevention, Response and Research Action Plan and prevention efforts under the Mexico–U.S. food safety partnership
• Sending a letter to industry calling for collaboration to address Cyclospora contamination throughout the supply chain
• Meeting with senior Mexican public health and agriculture officials to encourage continued engagement on a prevention-focused framework to address outbreaks linked to produce grown in Mexico.

In July, FDA determined that lettuce grown by Taylor Farms of Mexico was the vehicle of illness in the outbreak based on strong epidemiological evidence—that is, thousands of outbreak patients reporting exposure to Taco Bell food containing iceberg lettuce—and traceback activities converging on a single supplier. Earlier this week, Michigan public health officials released an interim report of the state’s early outbreak investigation activities, which helped inform FDA’s traceback and public health response. According to the report, of the 3,114 patients interviewed by Michigan investigators, 2,168 (69.6 percent) reported eating food purchased from a single restaurant chain (presumably Taco Bell), with lettuce being the most commonly consumed ingredient among interviewees. Evidence also pointed to lettuce exposure among people who had not eaten at the restaurant chain.

Taco Bell subsequently stopped using Taylor Farms as a lettuce supplier, and Taylor Farms/Taylor Fresh Foods announced a recall that affected various downstream foodservice and retail brands. At this time, FDA said that it is “confident that all recalled iceberg lettuce related to this specific Cyclospora outbreak is off the market.”

Other Cyclospora Outbreak Investigations Remain Open

Illnesses associated with the Taylor Farms lettuce outbreak represent only a portion of the unusually large number of cyclosporiasis cases reported across the U.S. in 2026. Between May 1 and August 31, CDC received reports of 19,595 laboratory-confirmed, domestically acquired cases, resulting in 1,043 hospitalizations and two deaths (the same two deaths from the Taylor Farms outbreak). This total includes the cases associated with the Taylor Farms lettuce outbreak, other outbreaks, and non-outbreak-associated cases. For comparison, 1,180 cases were reported in the U.S. during the same period in 2025. 

FDA is continuing to investigate other Cyclospora outbreak clusters across the U.S. Currently, aside from the Taylor Farms lettuce outbreak, the agency is investigating four cyclosporiasis outbreaks comprising 231, 38, 22, and 18 cases each. A vehicle of illness has not yet been identified in any of these four outbreaks.

Cyclospora Outbreak Raised Concerns About U.S. Public Health Infrastructure

The Taylor Farms lettuce cyclosporiasis outbreak was highly publicized, due to its unprecedented reach and number of illnesses. Because of this, food safety experts, legislators, and the public called into question whether underinvestment in U.S. public health infrastructure and research, and cuts to federal agencies experienced under the second Trump Administration, slowed outbreak detection and response. For example, in August, news came to light that Congress cut two of three federal Cyclospora research projects as part of Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations, and the third will be disrupted by the Trump Administration’s planned U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reorganization.

During the outbreak, U.S. representatives from the House Oversight Committee requested answers from Taylor Farms about its outbreak response, as well as donations made to a Trump Super PAC that occurred one week before the Administration delayed FDA’s Food Traceability Rule. If enforced in January 2026 as originally planned, the rule would have made it easier to trace the lettuce vehicle of illness in the cyclosporiasis outbreak, facilitating faster recalls and response activities.

Relatedly, in August, the Safe Food Coalition, comprising food safety and consumer protection stakeholders, urged Congress to rescind an appropriations rider that prevents FDA from using federal funds to administer or enforce its Food Traceability Rule before July 20, 2028.

The Safe Food Coalition also joined experts, legislators, and the public in calling for adequate funding and staffing to be restored to CDC and states for foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak response.