Federal health authorities on Thursday reported that a parasitic illness outbreak connected to recalled iceberg lettuce has now spread to 20 states, cementing its status as the largest outbreak of its kind ever recorded in the United States.
Georgia, Tennessee and Texas are the newest states where cases have been confirmed, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The overall number of people sickened has climbed to 11,458, up from roughly 10,900 a week earlier.
Health officials—including the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local agencies—have centered their inquiry on iceberg lettuce grown at a central Mexico farm run by Taylor Farms de Mexico. The company voluntarily pulled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico off the U.S. market and issued a formal recall on July 17.
The recall covered Marketside-brand items sold at Walmart, including 12-ounce and 24-ounce iceberg salad and 8-ounce and 16-ounce shredded lettuce packages with best-by dates spanning July 18 through Aug. 3, 2026. A broader set of recalled products reached food-service customers, and Taco Bell has said it stopped using lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico as of July 17.
FDA personnel continue to inspect and sample product at the Mexican growing and processing operations, working alongside Mexican government officials. The agency said it "remains confident that all recalled iceberg lettuce related to this specific cyclospora outbreak is off the market.”
Of those sickened, 495 people have been hospitalized, and two have died.
The most recent reported illness onset was Aug. 15, and officials noted that most infections began before the recall was announced in mid-July.
Recognizing Cyclospora Symptoms
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that typically triggers watery diarrhea "with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements.”The organism thrives in warm weather, meaning outbreaks are most common in late spring and summer. It infects the intestines and spreads through fecal contamination, and the resulting illness, cyclosporiasis, occurs less frequently than infections from other foodborne germs such as Salmonella and E. coli. Many Cyclospora infections are never traced back to a specific food item or source.
Earlier this week, the CDC reported roughly 29,000 confirmed or suspected Cyclospora cases nationwide so far this year, with 922 hospitalizations. That far exceeds the previous worst year on record, 2019, when about 4,700 illnesses were reported nationally.
Officials advised anyone who bought or received food containing the recalled lettuce to thoroughly clean and sanitize any surfaces or containers it touched, and urged people experiencing symptoms—especially those who ate shredded iceberg lettuce within the previous two weeks—to contact a health care provider.