Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared the ongoing multistate cyclospora outbreak under control at a press briefing held July 20-21, 2026. He said officials have identified the source of the outbreak and companies involved have implemented recalls, aiming to end the spread of illness [1, 2, 3, 4].
The outbreak has sickened more than 1,600 confirmed people nationwide, with Michigan alone reporting over 6,500 confirmed cases. Hospitalizations have reached 94, but no deaths have been reported [1, 2, 5, 4]. Kennedy emphasized the investigation's forensic depth, stating, "We do have the outbreak under control. We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics, and we've identified the source of the outbreak. And the companies that are involved have all implemented a recall" [1].
Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled their shredded iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17, linked to multiple Taco Bell locations and implicated in the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration initially reported detecting cyclospora pathogens in a sample of this lettuce but later retracted the finding as a false positive, causing some confusion. Donald Schaffner, Chair of Food Science at Rutgers University, called the FDA's reversal "a pretty big screw up" and said he had never seen such a reversal before [1, 2, 5, 3, 4]. While critics argue the FDA mishandling raised concerns, other officials defended the initial alert as necessary to protect public health despite the retesting [3, 4].
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have made cyclospora reporting optional since 2025 due to funding cuts, complicating surveillance. Only pathogens from shiga-toxin producing E. coli and salmonella remain fully tracked under the FoodNet program. Kennedy rejected criticism that federal cuts hampered the outbreak response, calling such claims "invalid" and noting no cuts occurred in essential surveillance programs [1, 2, 3, 4]. However, some experts and officials blame pandemic-era grant cuts totaling $11.4 billion under the Trump administration for limiting outbreak response capacity [1, 5].
Federal and state investigations continue focusing on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms as the likely outbreak source. Despite no confirmed positive sample after FDA test reversals, recalls and public warnings remain in effect [2, 5, 3, 4].
The outbreak first appeared in mid-May 2026, with confirmed illnesses traced back to May 13. Taylor Farms issued recalls on July 17 before the July 20-21 press briefing where Secretary Kennedy outlined the situation and ongoing efforts [2, 4].
