US health authorities on Friday declared the nation’s largest recorded cyclosporiasis outbreak over, after contaminated iceberg lettuce sickened thousands, though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was still investigating how the parasite entered the food supply.
The outbreak, which federal investigators linked to lettuce from central Mexico sourced by Taylor Farms, prompted one of the largest food recalls in recent years and renewed scrutiny of food-safety controls for imported produce.
It also rattled consumer confidence, with some shoppers avoiding raw fruits and vegetables as well as dining out, hurting foot traffic at restaurants such as Taco Bell, Sweetgreen and Chipotle.
According to data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12,883 people across 21 states fell ill after consuming contaminated lettuce.
The outbreak resulted in 570 hospitalisations and two deaths, and accounted for more than half of the 19,595 laboratory-confirmed US cyclosporiasis cases reported since May 1.
At the peak of the outbreak, before the recall, more than 1,000 infections were reported in a single day. In August, infections had fallen to fewer than two per day on average, the CDC said.