AI Image
Cyclospora found at Mexican farm linked to lettuce outbreak, FDA says
The Guardian • • business
Key Points:
- The FDA detected cyclospora contamination at a Mexican farm linked to the largest US outbreak of the parasite, finding it in a wastewater tank and drainage ditch used for lettuce cultivation, though the exact contamination route remains unclear.
- The multi-state outbreak infected nearly 13,000 people, caused 570 hospitalizations, and resulted in two deaths before the CDC declared it over less than a month ago.
- Mexico’s food safety authority found no cyclospora in lettuce or water at the facility, and the FDA previously retracted a faulty positive test result on lettuce from the farm.
- The FDA’s investigation, the first at the farm in over seven years, provided strong epidemiological evidence linking the outbreak to Taylor Farms, which attributed contamination to an independent grower no longer supplying them.
- Cyclospora is a parasite causing cyclosporiasis, characterized by severe diarrhea and digestive symptoms, and is less common than other foodborne pathogens like salmonella and E. coli.
