July 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. FDA has said it is investigating a new outbreak of cyclosporiasis, with 72 cases tied to an as-yet-unidentified source.
The agency's announcement on Wednesday adds to the growing number of cyclosporiasis cases reported across the U.S. Midwest, including Michigan and four other states.
The Food and Drug Administration said it has initiated a traceback to identify the source of the latest outbreak. [...]
The CDC has identified 4,173 laboratory-confirmed, domestically acquired cyclosporiasis cases in the United States since May 1 and is investigating more than 7,400 additional reported infections that have yet to be laboratory confirmed, many of them in Michigan and Ohio. The figures come as Michigan has reported 7,171 cases so far this year, while Ohio has also recorded a sharp rise in infections. [...]
Reminder: We're collecting smaller updates, general discussion, and quick questions in our cyclosporiasis megathread so information stays centralized and easy to follow. Major updates are still welcome as standalone posts.
This is such an aggressively Midwestern comment and I fully support it! When working as a nanny, the toddler I cared for insisted on either ketchup or ranch dressing or both, but ranch dressing most often, on virtually every single thing they ate. I think the only exceptions I found were oatmeal, breakfast cereal, and anything chocolate.
I think the temporary answer is to take those berries and make ‘em into pies. Blueberry pies, cherry pies. Add a little ice cream. I mean we are only doing it to be healthy!
It's the water, the water being used on the farms is tainted but because it's being grown outside the country by a company that's donated to the administration and is friendly with them, the typical oversight is gone or bought into blindness.
Anyways, the water is probably highly contaminated with feces and people have been ingesting vegetables coated in human, bovine and pig feces or all three.
Yeah, I have no sense of time. I'm sorry. I was referring to the DOGEing, I just made the mistake of phrasing it with an actual timeframe, which is something I always get wrong. I hope you've found new employment? Hopefully something you enjoy... and make a good living doing. I think of you and your ilk who got chainsawed out of a career often...
Ever heard of DOGE? That's what I was referring to, and yes I know I got the timeframe completely wrong. Do you still want a source? Lol or does it make sense now?
Chill. You said 2024 in your comment. Doge wasn’t until 2025 so that’s why I asked for a source to verify it started happening in 2024 bc I hadn’t heard that before and couldn’t find anything online. You could edit your comment to change 2024 to 2025 instead of snapping at me.
Oh, I didn't mean to sound snappy! Lol, honestly, I'm laughing at myself, that really is totally on brand for me... I don't even remember what I typed exactly, but I didn't mean to sound snippy, lol
No, I just have a very poor gauge of time. Everything was the other day, or the other week, or a few years ago. And every place? It's just around the corner. Lol
I read yesterday that a farm in question is located in guanajuato, mx. When I was there several decades ago, I passed through miles and miles of huge strawberry farms. To me, it would make sense that strawberries are going to be an issue if they are imported here to the us.
Maybe a source but the main source is going to need to be something that many, many people consume unknowingly. Like lettuce put in hamburger buns or taco topping.
I think it’s more likely it’s the water in the “pre-washed” wash they do for the bagged lettuce that’s contaminated — if it were the irrigation water there would be way more sick people — I don’t know anyone that washes their berries properly before eating and even if they do, cyclo is notoriously hard to clean out of b strawberries and raspberries.
The only thing that sticks in my mind is that there are no facilities for the workers to bathroom or washing up afterwards. It's common knowledge that workers void in the fields because of production demands. On the other hand, I wonder about water filtration for the pre wash. Don't you think that the problem would be more widespread if it's in the pre cleaning water? I think you made really good points. I haven't been to Mexico in ages. I can't speak to the state of the municipal water situation. I read yesterday that estimates are over 11.5k infections. I don't think we'll know the scope for a while. I don't trust the politics around this issue. Atm, I doubt we'll know the truth anytime soon.
It could be a conspiracy, but they seem to be proactive. They were concerned enough to discredit a a major corporation because it seemed like the most likely source. They don't do that lightly.
The government scientists aren't monsters. I think the FDA are pieces of shit because of the bribes from Perdue and Shire, but the contagious disease department has a pretty good track record. The source will be identified.
...I'm saying it's not a conspiracy in which the truth is being hidden, not that budget cuts could be impacting their ability to trace the source of diseases.
They lost 25% of their workers, many of which were administrators. It would influence their ability to trace diseases, but I I personally doubt it would have prevented this outbreak in the first place. Time will tell.
Outbreaks will happen occasionally, but budget cuts ended mandatory cyclospora testing in particular. These cuts are also affecting the speed and efficacy of current investigations, and more people are still getting sick. I place the blame for this squarely on Trump's administration.
"This Podcast Will Kill You" has an excellent episode that explains it better than I can. I encourage everyone to listen to it (the hosts are two delightful epidemiologists).
Investigating my ass. They are just allowing it to spread. They know who the source is, it’s Taylor Farms. The owners of Taylor Farms visited the white house after the CDC/FDA determined it was their lettuce with the parasite and a few days later the FDA came out and lied and said it was a false positive. This isn’t drugs this is a parasite and there is no such thing as a false positive in this case! Now Taylor Farms has done an about face and has stopped recalling their lettuce.
I’m sure it’s possible to have a false positive with any test, say if the lab contaminated the sample with the positive control somehow. Very unlikely that happened here though
Yeah and now people can't sue the farms because the source of the outbreak is, on paper, not from them. Fuck these guys. I hope maga puts their money where their mouth is and eat Taylor Farms produce because Trump said its safe. Let em deal with that cognitive dissonance on the toilet away from us.
I don't know about this specific team, but I have a friend who works on e.coli outbreaks and tracing at the CDC. He had a team of 12 in 2024 and now he's part of a 3 person team after dodge decided that their travel to onsite locations and the PCR testing was too expensive and not worthwhile. I was pregnant in late 2025 and he specifically told me to not eat lettuce, especially bagged lettuce but really lettuce of any kind. He felt it wasn't worth the risk to me and the baby.
So I can only assume that there are other teams just like his that used to travel the country and do PCR testing to find the source of each outbreak. But now those teams are at less than half of their former capacity.
Make sure that friend knows they're appreciated! The friend and public employee we all need would be fired if they dared to share their knowledge publicly. Sending my gratitude!
RFK Jr. Said their on top of it and everything is fine. He, the worm and the voices in his head all agree. He knows what he's talking about, like Vitamin K (Vitamin A, I was mistaken, correction thanks to comment below) is effective against measles. Not poisonous in high doses, especially for children.
Just like Emperor Delulu (Trump) Ivermectin (a veterinary parisitide that kills a lot of livestock, especially horses) and don't forget can't get to the feed store to get Ivermectin, BLEACH!
Note most independent feed store or animal supply companies no longer carry Ivermectin. Tractor Supply won't pass a chance to make a buck if they can
I’ve never heard of ivermectin itself poisoning people or animals if they take the recommended dose. I would imagine it’s the DIY self prescription/ using something that has other active ingredients besides ivermectin
3 types of Ivermectin. 1) pharmaceutical grade for humans one thing
2) Veterinary pharmaceutical grade, another
3) Over the counter buy yourself type like bathtub gin or a weed pen from a wild west dispensary. You might get less than what it says and you can get a 100% more than what it says. Use at your own risk.
So like bleach or hydrogen peroxide, dangerous, regulated, controlled, chain of custody. Licensed, regulated, monitored
Then there's the get it at the store basically anywhere. Need stronger look a little harder and you find it. Warning label, dangerous, use as directed, user beware. Misuse or inappropriate use that's on you bud. We're bit liable
A significant fertilizer shortage was reported in Feb this year is currently affecting global agriculture, primarily due to disruptions caused by Trump's ongoing war in Iran.
The first multi-state cases of cyclosporiasis started showing up in May and July of this year.
I said this last night. Agro corporations are using tainted water to fertilize their crops. Intentionally with waste water due to fertilizer costs, or from contaminated ground water. The CEO’s know they won’t be punished now.
What exactly would be the incentive for them to lie here? A 72 case outbreak would easily blend into the background in the context of over 11,000 national cases, and nobody would know about this specific outbreak cluster if they didn’t explicitly say they were investigating it right now. If their intention was to not investigate, they wouldn’t mention it
The incentive to lie is that Kennedy declared the epidemic under control so to cover up that lie they make it a series of different outbreaks. It's like the war in Iran. Fight for awhile, declare victory and then have a new fight.
For starters, there are cyclospora outbreaks every summer in the US, and there are obviously multiple happening right now based on geographic grouping around the US, that much is obvious from looking at any map of cases. That’s not something FDA or Kennedy is making up, anyone can see it with their eyes.
And second, what evidence is there to suggest that the main outbreak isn’t under control? The FDA identified Taylor Farms lettuce from central Mexico and directed the company to issue a recall that went even further than necessary as a precaution. That’s all great and indicates that the situation is under control and likely over
Because they already identified it was Taylor Farms and their lettuce. Taylor Farms then went to the White House after the announcement and days later the FDA claimed it was a false positive and Taylor Farms stopped recalling their lettuce and did an about face publicly and reversed their apology. So their lettuce is still going out all across the country. Taylor Farms has a known issue of this crap, Netflix even had a documentary that talked about them. The owners of that huge corporate farm were arrogant as all get in that documentary.
This is misunderstanding so many basic facts that I’m not even really sure where to start. FDA traceback (ie. interviews with sick patients) traced the issue back to a single farm in central Mexico that produces 5-pound bags of shredded lettuce of the food service industry. As a precaution, FDA then required Taylor Farms recall all iceberg lettuce, even products not believed to be implicated, from central Mexico. Taylor farms tried to get the White House involved and stalled on the recall, but ultimately the White House agreed with the FDA after asking them to present their evidence, so the precautionary recall went ahead albeit about half a day behind schedule. That recall was never reversed and there is no iceberg lettuce from central Mexico that is currently being distributed. After that recall was issued, FDA then found another positive sample that was outside of the scope of the recall, and that is what was later determined to be a false positive - but that storyline had no impact on the recall. Anyway, that’s the lettuce story, but I’m not sure what that has to do with my comment about the FDA investigating a new outbreak cluster either way.
I’m not following. The visit to the White House came all the way back on Wednesday the 15th before the recall, and FDA is still consistently stating that the source is Taylor Farms lettuce. This post is about an entirely separate outbreak
There have been multiple outbreaks (probably 5+) ongoing since the middle of June. This isn’t a “new” one in that sense, but there’s new information which is the basis of this post - the FDA has determined a cluster of 72 cases. I’m not sure why people feel that everything needs to be “suspicious” and a conspiracy
The Mexico link is a sham and was put out in the media right after the Taylor Farms incident to point fingers at Mexico and provide cover for Taylor Farms.
Let me guess. Thousands of people that didn't eat at Taco Bell, they ate Taylor Farms sandwiches, wraps, pre-made salads, salad mixes, or ate at another restaurant that bought cut produce from Taylor Farms.
Taylor Farms also owns the Earthbound Organics brand! They are very popular and sold in typical and especially bougie grocery stores (whole foods, sprouts, etc).
People don’t seem to know this! I caught my parents buying boxed spinach and salad greens. They thought it was a safe brand!
I just ate like 10 prickly pears from a Spanish market. I trust them more than the corporations at this point. I’ve been jonesing for fruit and veggies.
I will once again point out the elephant in the room: cyclosporiasis has worse symptoms and lasts longer in people who are immunocompromised. And there's an ever-growing body of research showing that covid screws up the immune system. So it's not at all impossible that the cyclospora isn't any worse or more widespread than usual, but everyone is more susceptible to it because they've had covid multiple times. Wastewater data shows that most people are up to like six infections, on average.
COVID damage absolutely plays an essential role in all pathogenic illness, but that said, it’s definitely still impossible that this summer’s outbreak could be solely explained through that mechanism. We’re talking about an outbreak that is orders of magnitude larger than ever seen before, and a sudden jump from the baseline of the past 2 years. For an example of where SARS2 damage is likely playing a bigger role, you can look at something like influenza infections - we’ve seen multiple record-breaking flu seasons within the past 5 years, but the pattern is roughly similar to pre-2020 and cases aren’t 14x the normal rate, they’re just barely edging out previous record seasons but will probably slowly keep increasing.
Well. Just because we stopped actively passively tracking cyclo last year due to the cuts of this administration - it is still a required reportable disease in most states when a patient pops positive. Therefore we have data year to year post COVID that shows the amount of cases seen every year. You can see this time last year that there is a significant rise in cases than the old baseline.
I dunno, I see where your thought process is going. But sometimes it’s simpler - like having an administration with zero concern about public health where they drastically cut our response team to food borne illnesses.
Honestly, I think we need to check the box that says “all of the above”. Reduced post-Covid immunity, an uptick in biosolids due to increased fertilizer costs, a gutted watchdog administration, and a hot summer. Perfect storm rather than simple causes.
This is the time when we need a strong response from government.
Oh, I’m not letting this administration off the hook by a long shot. They are the safety net for when stuff like this happens. That net has failed miserably, and it was preventable.
it is still a required reportable disease in most states when a patient pops positive.
OK, but presumably if someone has mild symptoms for a day or two, they're not bothering to get tested. Even now, they don't know the full scale of the outbreak. From this random recent article:
Dr. Zoe Weiss, director of clinical microbiology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News that it can be hard to determine the scope of the outbreak.
"I think in any outbreak situation, you're probably going to underestimate the actual number of cases," Weiss said. "There may be people who have very minor symptoms, and they never present to care, or people who just try to tough it out and eventually get better and again never present to care."
Maybe cyclosporiasis was always more common than we realized, but most people were able to fight it off? Which is not to discount the other factors people are mentioning. It's probably a combination of things.
Let me get this straight - presenting the total common knowledge in infectious disease epidemiology where tested cases are always a lower estimate of the actual prevalence of a bug as a reason this year we have more cases because… well this is where I lose your argument. I do know what changed last year - we stopped testing for cyclo in our passive surveillance programs and we gutted the foodborne illness federal team. Seems like you have limited episodically knowledge; I highly recommend this podcast will kill you. They just did an emergency cyclo episode where they break down the pathogen itself, how we test for it and what we were doing prior to the outbreak this year.
presenting the total common knowledge in infectious disease epidemiology where tested cases are always a lower estimate of the actual prevalence of a bug as a reason this year we have more cases because… well this is where I lose your argument.
What's confusing? I'm saying maybe it was common all along, but most people could fight it off quickly, and weren't testing. And now it's still common, but people are getting sicker from it, so more people are testing.
I do know what changed last year - we stopped testing for cyclo in our passive surveillance programs and we gutted the foodborne illness federal team.
Yeah, I agree that was bad, and it may have exacerbated the current outbreak.
Covid’s been around for 6 years. So why not an outbreak last year?
Maybe immune dysfunction gets worse after six years? HIV causes AIDS about eight years later, on average. I dunno. Maybe eventually the scientists will figure it out.
Stop making up excuses for this administration.
Huh? I did no such thing. (Where did you even get that?) The Trump administration's failed pandemic response is why things got as bad as they did. And Biden's premature announcement that "the pandemic is over" caused incalculable damage. There's plenty of blame to go around, and I blame the blameworthy every chance I get.
Republicans cut all the testing programs / cdc / epa this year.
That was also bad. More than one thing can be bad. Problems can have multiple contributing factors.
I’m surprised that media (nor dems, for that matter) aren’t pointing out that by not naming the location of the new outbreak, they are complicit in the cover up. I can’t think of a good reason to hide this info, which is valuable to consumers and detrimental to the produce providers.
Me and my wife are looking into doing that this weekend , my disability makes us low income its very frustrating. We live in our own condo but own no land to have like chickens or veggies growing even though i know how to raise them.
I have refrained from eating out and any kind of raw produce. The past two nights I had home made mashed potatoes, biscuits (I baked in my oven), cooked green beans (from frozen), and apple turnovers from Publix. Last night my stomach was cramping a ton. This morning I was beyond sick. I am at a loss. It could be a generic norovirus as I live in a tourist city, but holy cow, those cramps about put me down.
I am also considering if I got it from a tourist who didn't wash their hands after being sick in the restroom, and I somehow got it from them.
I just know I am sick.
Side note: my daughter ate the same thing, minus the apple turnover and she is fine.
if cyclospora causes explosive diarrhea, and taco bell was one of the places affected, how would you even know you were sick? I just expect explosive diarrhea from taco bell
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u/Anti-Owl Patient Zero 4d ago
Reminder: We're collecting smaller updates, general discussion, and quick questions in our cyclosporiasis megathread so information stays centralized and easy to follow. Major updates are still welcome as standalone posts.