An outbreak of cyclosporiasis, potentially affecting more than 11,000 people, has exposed vulnerabilities in the US food safety system, experts say. The outbreak comes as federal and state health departments face significant funding cuts and staffing reductions.
Outbreak scale and impact
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the outbreak involves a nine-state cluster, with Michigan reporting over 7,000 cases. Other affected states include Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. More than 300 people have been hospitalized, though no deaths have been reported.
Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal infection caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. Symptoms include watery, explosive diarrhea that can relapse over weeks. The parasite spreads through food or water contaminated with human feces.
Source and recall
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating six outbreaks, with one large source identified: iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico. Taylor Farms issued a voluntary recall affecting restaurants in 27 states and grocery stores in 15 states. Taco Bell, linked to cases in nine states, has stopped using the lettuce.
Systemic vulnerabilities
Barbara Kowalcyk, an associate professor at George Washington University and director of the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security, said: "What's surprising to me is the magnitude of it, and how it highlights all these system vulnerabilities."
The outbreak underscores challenges in tracking foodborne illnesses. Cases are undercounted because patients must see a doctor and receive a specific test not included in standard panels. Only 47 states require cyclosporiasis reporting to the CDC's National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS); in others like Pennsylvania, reporting is voluntary. The CDC assumes a six-week lag between illness onset and report receipt.
Funding and staffing cuts
The outbreak occurs amid reduced public health funding. In 2025, the Trump administration cut $11.4 billion in pandemic-era grants to state and local health departments. The CDC lost 25-30% of its staff, and a specialized parasitic disease team was reduced from 11 to three employees, partly due to USAID funding cuts.
Kowalcyk noted: "Ideally, we would identify and solve these outbreaks when they're small, you don't want an outbreak of 11,000 people. It's just symptomatic of the fact we have cut public health funding over the last two years to an area we haven't fully funded to begin with."
Data discrepancies
State and federal case counts differ due to varying reporting criteria. The CDC counts cases as confirmed only with both lab confirmation and an interview. Michigan, however, reports all lab-confirmed cases to the CDC, even without interviews, contributing to the discrepancy.
