Confirmed patients in the massive Cyclospora outbreak plaguing the country increased over the weekend, with Michigan alone reporting more than 1,000 additional cases.
The state is one among nine identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being involved in an outbreak of infections from the parasite linked to Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce. Taylor Farms has recalled iceberg lettuce products from its central Mexico growing operations that was distributed to retailers under a variety of brands, restaurants and foodservice supplier Sysco.
In a statement, Taylor Farms officials said the company maintains “best-in-class Cyclospora prevention protocols and invests more than $200 million annually into our independently audited and verified food safety protocols.” With $7 billion in annual revenue, the $200 million represents less than 3 percent of the company’s sales and is spread across all food safety efforts for all of its products.
Political influence questioned
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is investigating whether Taylor Farms used its ties to the White House to influence the federal response cyclospora outbreak, according to CBS News.
Ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia of California on Monday sent a letter to Taylor Farms CEO Bruce Taylor seeking answers about the lettuce producer’s role in the outbreak, which has sickened thousands of people in dozens of states.
The letter states: “This timeline of events raises concerns that your company may have attempted to leverage political donations and connections inside the Trump Administration to influence the scope, scale, and findings of FDA’s investigation. Further, your company’s series of contradictory and confusing statements appear to be deliberately worded to make customers think recalled products are safe.”
In 2025, Taylor Farms contributed $1 million to President Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., a Federal Election Commission filing shows. The company last year also contributed more than $1 million to other Republican political action committees, according to other FEC filings.
Patient counts
The Michigan patient count — which now stands at 9,253 patients, up from 8,176 reported on July 24 — is markedly higher than the CDC number, which was 1,947 as of July 24. The federal agency believes many of the Michigan patients, as well as a number of more than 2,000 patients reported by Ohio, are part of a larger outbreak.
The CDC says the discrepancy between its patient count and that of the states is because of the lag time it takes between when a state confirms an illness and when that illness is added to the CDC’s count. Another reason for the difference in the counts is because the CDC stopped tracking Cyclospora illnesses beginning July 1, 2025.
A separate outbreak being tracked by the CDC has infected 4,173 people across 41 states. The agency reports that it is aware of more than 7,400 additional cases that are not yet laboratory confirmed and require further investigation and analysis.
About Cyclospora
Anyone who has developed symptoms of Cyclospora infection, and has reason to believe they have been exposed to the parasite, should seek medical attention. Specific tests are required and antibiotics are used to fight the parasite.
Cyclospora infection can cause severe abdominal pain, severe watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, body aches, and fatigue. Symptoms can develop between two and 14 days after exposure. Though symptoms can be severe enough to send people to the hospital, it’s rare for people to die from Cyclospora infections.
Symptoms can last up to a month and then reoccur for several more months.
Cyclospora is a type of protozoa, which is a tiny, single-celled organism. It is transmitted when people somehow ingest contaminated feces, typically through contaminated food or water. It can be spread only through human waste. Only microscopic amounts of feces are necessary for the parasite to be transmitted.