Cyclosporiasis hospitalized a bride on her honeymoon as U.S. outbreak spreads

Taylor Farms sign is displayed at one of their facilities. The produce supplier is allegedly connected to the recent cyclosporiasis outbreak. Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy /Getty Images

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A Wisconsin bride landed in the hospital on her honeymoon with cyclosporiasis, a parasitic illness suspected of spreading through contaminated lettuce.

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A few days into a camping trip to Yellowstone, Gretchen Pleuss started feeling sick. “It was just like incessant diarrhea,” she told Milwaukee television station WISN. The pain grew bad enough that she went to an emergency room, where doctors confirmed the parasite.

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“It feels like your intestines are really tight, like something is seizing them,” she said. She believes shredded lettuce in a sandwich was the cause.

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Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite that spreads through food or water contaminated with feces, according to the CDC. It rarely passes directly between people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,645 confirmed cases across 34 states since May 1 in a health alert on July 14, with 141 people hospitalized and no deaths.

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More than 5,100 further cases are under investigation. That is far above the 249 cases reported nationally by the same point last year.

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The leading suspect is lettuce. Shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia has been linked to the outbreak, National Post reported.

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Taylor Farms, the California-based supplier, is voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, the company said in a recall notice. The recalled lettuce was distributed in 27 states and included Marketside-branded lettuce sold at Walmart in 15 states.

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Symptoms usually appear about a week after exposure and can include watery diarrhea, cramping, nausea and fatigue, according to the CDC. Untreated, they can come and go for a month or more.

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Keith Warriner, a professor at the University of Guelph’s department of food science, told National Post that washing “is not going to do that much.” Cooking or freezing is more effective.

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The lettuce link is not fully settled, with the FDA reporting a sample of Taylor Farms lettuce as positive for the parasite, then calling it a false positive a day later, the BBC reported. No product has tested positive for the parasite, and the source of the outbreak remains unknown more than two months after the first cases.

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Michigan has been hit hardest, with more than 6,100 cases, state health officials reported.

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Taco Bell Canada said in a social media post that the lettuce behind the U.S. outbreak was never served at its Canadian locations, The Canadian Press reported. The Public Health Agency of Canada said in an email to National Post on July 13 that it is not investigating any cyclosporiasis outbreaks, and that the parasite is not commonly found on food and is not in drinking water in Canada.