A Parasitic Gut Infection Is Spreading Across 34 States
A cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to contaminated lettuces and salad greens has now reached 34 states, with Idaho reporting its first case on July 8, 2026. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare confirmed the case involved an Idahoan who had traveled out of state before falling ill.
Cyclosporiasis is caused by the parasite cyclospora, which spreads through food or water contaminated with feces. Symptoms include explosive watery diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps. The illness often goes undiagnosed because standard stool tests do not detect cyclospora without a specific request from a physician.
1,645 cases confirmed by the CDC across 34 states, with more than 5,100 additional cases still awaiting confirmation.
That official count is almost certainly low. Michigan alone has reported more than 2,600 cases at the state level, more than the entire CDC national total, a gap that reflects both underreporting and the lag in federal confirmation. Michigan state health officials have identified lettuces and salad greens as a likely source.
CDC Cut Monitoring for This Exact Parasite Last Year
The outbreak arrives one year after the CDC, under the Trump administration, reduced surveillance for several foodborne illnesses, including cyclospora. That decision reduced the federal government’s capacity to detect outbreaks early, trace contaminated food sources, and coordinate state responses.
The consequence is visible now. With the CDC’s own tally acknowledged as an undercount, public health officials are working without a clear picture of how many people are sick or where the contamination is coming from.
Idaho’s largest regional health authority, Central District Health, issued a health advisory urging providers to test patients with prolonged, watery, or relapsing diarrheal illness for cyclospora specifically. That advisory would be unnecessary if the infection were on providers’ radar already.
What You Can Do Now
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Call your U.S. senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to restore the CDC’s foodborne illness monitoring programs that were cut in 2025. Ask specifically: “Will you push to fund CDC’s FoodNet and cyclospora surveillance in the next appropriations bill?”
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Contact your state health department and ask whether they are testing for cyclospora. Find your state health department at cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories. If your state is among the 34 affected, ask what the confirmed case count is and whether a food source has been identified.
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Talk to your doctor now if you have prolonged diarrhea. Ask specifically for a cyclospora stool test. Standard tests miss this parasite unless the lab knows to look for it.
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Avoid salad bars and pre-washed bagged greens until federal officials identify and recall the specific contaminated product, which has not yet happened as of July 14, 2026.