Cyclospora Outbreak:
- There are over 8,260 Cyclospora cases across 38 states. (Brown Pandemic Center)
- But that number’s expected to rise, as MI is now reporting over 5,000 cases as of Friday (+700 from yesterday). (MDHSS)
- FDA announced early Friday that consumers should avoid shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico at Taco Bell locations in IN, KY, MI, OH, and WV. 1,644 cases in those 5 states have been linked to this product. (FDA)
- While the FDA did not name the supplier, a Washington Post report named Taylor Farms. (Washington Post)
- Taylor Farms has said they will voluntarily recall all iceberg lettuce from the Mexico region. Their branded salad mix does not contain iceberg lettuce. There is not yet an FDA recall notice as of 4pm Friday. (NBC)
Health News:
- Heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires is covering the Midwest and Northeast this week. Combined with extreme heat, experts are urging people to limit strenuous outdoor activities. (AP)
- Wearing an N95 mask can help if you have to be outside when air quality is bad from wildfire smoke. (ABC)
- The NYC Legionnaires’ outbreak has grown to 60 cases, and towers on at least 76 buildings have tested positive, including the Met and Guggenheim museums. (CNN)
- A new measles outbreak in Wyoming and Idaho has at least 5 cases across the state border. (HSOC)
- Coca-Cola has temporarily stopped producing Fairlife milk due to a ransomware attack. (Fox5 Atlanta)
- More than 1 in 4 Gen Z patients don’t have primary care doctors. (CNN)
- A recent poll found that most adults over 50 don’t know about the 988 suicide crisis line (it’s free and confidential!). (HealthDay)
- Some good news: Gilead launched an Ebola antiviral trial in DR Congo this week to try to prevent infection in those exposed. (CIDRAP)
Best Question:
Are all 8,000+ Cyclospora cases linked to shredded lettuce from Mexico?
It’s too early to say, but probably not. CDC has linked cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia to shredded lettuce from Mexico. Just based on proximity, it seems like a good bet that Illinois cases, which are also growing quickly, might also be linked to Taylor Farms lettuce served at Taco Bells in the region.
At least some other outbreaks are probably unrelated. North Carolina, for example, has 300+ cases that the state says have not been linked to outbreaks in other states. And the FDA lists five separate Cyclospora outbreaks right now on its website, only one of which is linked to lettuce so far.
It’s possible that now that they’ve narrowed down a product, supplier, and growing region that we’ll start to see some of these other clusters linked - possibly to other restaurants and vendors besides Taco Bell that purchased Mexican iceberg lettuce via Taylor Farms. But if we had to guess, we’d say that some of this nationwide outbreak will be linked to lettuce and at least some of these cases will end up being other, smaller, unrelated clusters, travel-related cases, and just a general increase in one-offs detected due to the increase in testing. It may be days or even weeks until FDA and CDC are able to confirm, though. And for smaller outbreaks, don’t hold your breath – most Cyclo outbreaks are never solved because of how hard it can be to track down a source weeks after patients ate whatever made them sick.
Sources: HSOC, NCDHHS, FDA
Best Read:
There’s a lot of noise out there about how FoodNet no longer tracks Cyclospora. But in reality, it wouldn’t have helped catch or resolve this outbreak any sooner. It does limit CDC's ability to track longer-term disease trends and risk, though. And other cuts to federal and state programs are almost certainly affecting their ability to respond.