FDA Finds Cyclospora at Mexican Farm Linked to Record U.S. Outbreak
The agency's investigation into nearly 13,000 illnesses has concluded, identifying contamination at a Taylor Farms facility.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors have detected cyclospora at a Mexican farm identified as the source of the largest outbreak of the parasite in U.S. history. The outbreak, linked to lettuce from Taylor Farms, resulted in nearly 13,000 reported cases of illness across the United States.
The FDA's investigation into the outbreak has now concluded. Inspectors found the parasite in a wastewater tank and a drainage ditch used for lettuce cultivation at the facility in Guanajuato, Mexico. While the exact pathway of contamination remains unclear, the agency stated that the findings provide "strong epidemiological data" connecting the outbreak to the Taylor Farms site.
This discovery occurred more than six weeks after FDA investigators visited the farm. This marked the agency's first inspection of the facility in over seven years, a period that saw a significant decline in international food safety inspections following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taylor Farms issued a statement attributing the contamination cited by the FDA to an independent grower who is no longer part of their supplier program. The company indicated that its facility in central Mexico remains closed as they implement enhanced safety protocols. The U.S. officials had previously declared the outbreak over in the preceding month.
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite known to cause watery diarrhea, often accompanied by frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements. The illness, cyclosporiasis, is less common than infections caused by pathogens like salmonella or E. coli. The parasite spreads through human feces, and the mechanism by which it contaminated food in sufficient quantities to cause such a widespread outbreak is still not fully understood.
Prior to the FDA's findings, Mexico's food safety authority had reported in August that its own investigation did not detect cyclospora in the lettuce or water at the facility. This conclusion came after the FDA had to retract an earlier, incorrect test result that had initially identified cyclospora in a lettuce sample from Taylor Farms collected at the border.