The number of cyclosporiasis cases linked to Taco Bell or recalled lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico reached 6,358 this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new total includes cases in six additional states: New Hampshire, North Carolina, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas.
The Taco Bell outbreak now accounts for more than a quarter of the roughly 22,000 confirmed and suspected Cyclospora infections in the U.S. The CDC is investigating a number of other unrelated outbreaks of the parasitic diarrheal illness.
Given Taco Bell’s removal of the lettuce in mid-July, the new cases may represent individuals who ate the lettuce before its removal and contracted the disease during its long incubation period, which can last upwards of two weeks. Other cases may have been symptomatic prior to the lettuce recall and have been linked to it by retrospective epidemiological tracing. Increases in the case count do not, therefore, necessarily reflect new infections.
According to the CDC, the bulk of people sickened in the Taylor Farms and Taco Bell epidemic fell ill in early July, with 462 cases starting on July 8, 446 on July 9 and 456 on July 10 — the day several Michigan Taco Bells confirmed to Restaurant Dive that they had stopped serving lettuce. On July 15, Taco Bell told Restaurant Dive it was immediately and indefinitely removing potentially impacted lettuce. Two days later, the brand publicly said it had completed the removal.
Since then, CDC data shows, new cases in the outbreak have fallen significantly, with only four new illnesses developing in the final week of July.
However, the Food and Drug Administration said the case count may continue increasing “despite the recall, due to the fact that it can take as long as six weeks for CDC and state officials to determine if a sick person is part of this outbreak.”
On Yum Brands’ earnings call last week, CEO Chris Turner said he anticipated the sales declines resulting from the outbreak would be short-lived, as the chain will use value offers, limited-time offers and digital channels to bring consumers back. Taco Bell is not the sole source of cyclosporiasis cases, and other chains may be eventually linked to outbreaks around the country. The 22,000 confirmed and suspected cases reported by the CDC are spread across 47 states; Taylor Farms’ suspected lettuce was only distributed in 27 states.
