The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday it’s looking into another cyclosporiasis outbreak, the second cluster this summer, that’s sickened at least 72 people.
The federal agency has yet to link the latest diarrhea-causing parasitic outbreak to a specific product or location.
It’s initiated a traceback investigation, a process where officials trace food that ill people report eating all the way back to the farm or production facility.
Cylosporiasis is a parasite that is spread through the feces from an infected person, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
People become infected with the illness by consuming food or water that has been contaminated — the infection is not transmitted from person to person.
The FDA’s announcement follows a larger outbreak with cases that date back to May and that has affected thousands of people across five states — Indiana, Kentucky Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia — who reported feeling ill after eating Taco Bell products with shredded lettuce.
Traceback and outbreak data has linked shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to the Taco Bell locations to Taylor Farms’ facility, Taylor Farms de Mexico, located in Central Mexico. The company, also known as Taylor Fresh Foods, is based in Salinas.
Last week, the company announced it was voluntarily recalling various products including chopped lettuce, shredded lettuce, blends of iceberg, romaine lettuce and salad mixes that were supplied to restaurants and retailers in 27 states.
However, reported cases continue to climb in Ohio and in Michigan, where the outbreak was first reported.
Michigan officials have reported more than 7,600 sickened residents, including 160 people who were hospitalized for their symptoms.
Ohio’s public health department is reporting more than 1,200 cases.
Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky cases remain in the hundreds.
Since May 1, the CDC has reports of more than 4,173 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis and is aware of more than 7,400 additional cases that have yet to be laboratory confirmed.
Officials say the true number of cases is likely higher because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for the parasite.
In the U.S., food-borne outbreaks of cycloporiasis have historically been linked to various types of fresh produce imported from Latin America, including raspberries, cilantro, basil, snow peas and mixed salad, according to the California Department of Public Health.
One of the largest cyclosporiasis outbreaks in North America was linked to imported raspberries from Guatemalan farms in 1996. At the time, more than 1,400 cases of the disease were reported in 20 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.
Cases of cyclosporiasis are reported annually in California, and the current 41 cases of cyclosporiasis infection in the state are not linked to the outbreak, according to the California Department of Public Health.
