Chicago Man Links Taco Bell Chalupa to Cyclospora Illness Amid Nationwide Outbreak
Cyclospora Outbreak Investigation
A resident of Chicago, who was hospitalized due to cyclosporiasis, claims that a Taco Bell chalupa was the sole food item containing lettuce he consumed prior to his severe illness. This incident is part of a larger multistate outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce, which has led to nearly 1,700 confirmed cases and over 5,100 additional reported illnesses, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The outbreak has affected 34 states.
Alonso Zaragoza, aged 46, resides in the Belmont Cragin area of Chicago. He recounted to NBC Chicago that he began to feel unwell during the weekend of July 11-12. As his symptoms escalated, he found himself needing to use the restroom approximately every 90 minutes and struggled to get proper sleep for several days. "I don't think I slept more than an hour and a half continuously in the last week," he stated.
By midweek, Zaragoza noticed blood in his stool and opted to seek emergency medical assistance. Medical professionals placed him on an IV drip and conducted tests on his stool and blood. After confirming a Cyclospora infection, he began to investigate the potential source of his illness.
In a Facebook update, he detailed the severity of his condition: "Four days without sleep, chills, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, a loss of five pounds, and a late-night visit to the Emergency Room." He has since been released from the hospital.
Zaragoza meticulously reviewed his diet leading up to his illness and identified only one food item that contained lettuce. "I looked through everything; there was nothing that I ate that contained lettuce except a chalupa from the Luxe Box at Taco Bell. I checked the app and Googled the ingredients—it said iceberg lettuce," he shared with NBC Chicago.
The CDC has confirmed that the outbreak is linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations across Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated a traceback investigation and pinpointed a specific iceberg lettuce supplier in Mexico that provided lettuce to Taco Bell restaurants associated with the illnesses.
Health officials are advising customers to refrain from consuming shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell locations in the affected states while the investigation is ongoing. On July 17, produce company Taylor Farms announced the removal of all iceberg lettuce imported from Mexico from the US market due to potential Cyclospora contamination risks. However, the company later clarified that a positive test result related to its products was a false positive.
Authorities have yet to identify a single confirmed source for all cases in this outbreak, and investigations by the CDC and FDA are still in progress.