The CDC added Georgia, Tennessee and Texas to the list of states tied to cyclosporiasis cases linked to lettuce outbreak, widening an outbreak that has reached 48 states plus Washington, DC since May. The latest update also showed 17,180 laboratory-confirmed cases and at least 11,841 additional non-laboratory-confirmed cases.
CDC update
The agency said the outbreak remained linked to recalled iceberg lettuce, and that the states identified as related to one another were traced back to the lettuce. In the CDC's latest count on Aug. 25, the outbreak total included the laboratory-confirmed cases and the additional non-laboratory-confirmed cases reported alongside them.
Michigan's health department reported 14,510 cases on Aug. 27 and said it had identified the first two deaths in the nationwide outbreak. The same date, the CDC said 11,458 cases had been confirmed as part of the lettuce-related outbreak, up from 9,481 on Aug. 20.
Iceberg lettuce trace
The FDA traced the largest outbreak to recalled iceberg lettuce grown by Taylor Farms in central Mexico. That left a smaller but still widening map of illnesses tied to the same food source, with Georgia, Tennessee and Texas added since last week to the states already listed.
Robert F. Kennedy has also been mentioned in connection with comments about cuts to federal food and disease monitoring programs, while the CDC said it was investigating multiple separate clusters of gastrointestinal illness. The agency said only one source had been identified so far and that it was unlikely one common cause explained all outbreaks nationwide.
CDC case count lag
The CDC's case count can trail state-by-state numbers by about six weeks because of confirmation and reporting delays, so the Aug. 25 total does not fully capture the later state reports from Aug. 27. For people in Georgia, Tennessee and Texas, the practical question is whether lettuce already purchased matches the recalled iceberg lettuce tied to the outbreak.
Cyclosporiasis is caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis and is usually contracted through contaminated food or water. The CDC's next updates will matter most for people trying to match new illness reports to the recalled lettuce already linked to the outbreak, especially as the investigation continues across multiple clusters.
