Cyclospora has infected nearly 2,000 people since its outbreak, and its effects are being felt by working people across the country. Reportedly, the virus stems from the consumption of lettuce produced by Taylor Farms and distributed by the fast food chain Taco Bell. Taco Bell is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yum! Brands. Yum! Brands’ net worth is approximately 40.67 billion dollars as of July 2026. During the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigation, they have found the virus in parsley and cilantro. Thus far, no one has died; however, 114 have been hospitalized. The problem with the disease is its effect on the intestines. According to the researchers, both Taylor Farms, a private company owned by Bruce Taylor and worth 7.6 billion dollars, and Taco Bell have been forced to remove the fresh lettuce from their stores and production sites.
But after the many deaths from the COVID-19 virus, the U.S. public is a bit squeamish about the new viral malady. It is more than their health they are worried about. While it is felt the disease will be brought under control, the effect of the disease has taken its toll on the minds and wills of the U.S. public.
The intense diarrhea caused by the disease has focused most of the alarm. For example, according to Brandon Brown, Ph.D.—a public health epidemiologist and professor of medicine who contracted cyclosporiasis in 2018—he was visiting the bathroom about four times an hour. His symptoms did wane but then came roaring back. Within the next month, he lost 20 pounds.
Good Housekeeping reports that “cyclospora does not do well with person-to-person transfer.” “If someone in your house develops the bug, you are highly unlikely to catch it from them.” The Cyclospora oocyst, or egglike structure, develops in feces and must linger for several days before it infects a person. According to one source, flushing the toilet should prevent the spread of the infection. However, one could easily develop symptoms if you have been eating the same food as another family member.
What isn’t being reported as widely is the harsher impact these symptoms and this outbreak have on minimum-wage workers and higher-paid blue-collar workers, especially if the work involves heavy lifting or manual labor. These workers might be at a greater risk of unemployment than Dr. Brandon Brown.
According to a map developed by the CDC, the states reporting the highest occurrence of the disease are Michigan and New York. While the outbreaks in the hardest-hit state, Michigan, have been widespread, the CDC has been forced to expand its investigation and control measures in four more states. Outbreaks in Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania have now been connected to cases in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, New York, and Michigan.
“We’re getting more complete data that covers the range of the outbreak”, said Gwen Biggerstaff, CDC’s deputy director over Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases. “States are completing interviews with people and were filling in the data.”
However, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, claims the outbreak is under control. He has also long been a critic of vaccines to prevent the spread of viruses, flus, and other communicable diseases. However, the parasite is difficult to trace. Mexico’s Health Secretary, David Kershenobick Stalnikowitz, raised a question at a recent news conference, saying Mexico’s investigation had not found evidence that the outbreak originated there. Added to the problem is that Taylor Farms is a privately owned company with many processing plants in Mexico and California. The investigation cannot stop there, and it must continue in every state where the outbreak has occurred.
According to the CDC and other medical sources, “The parasite in question is notoriously difficult to trace. Scientists must use highly sensitive tests to detect it in food. People can also get sick weeks after having eaten contaminated products, so by the time health officials become aware of an outbreak, all a product worth testing may have been eaten or destroyed.”
This is the reason for the rapid spread of the disease. It is linked to the production system. Hundreds of people have eaten the lettuce carrying the parasite. The numbers have climbed since the first 1,645 cases were reported, reaching nearly 2,000. The summer is upon us, and most people eat fruit and vegetables this time of year. If the main sources of the parasite are Yum! Brands Inc. and Taylor Farms, then the disease can be controlled, but there is an anarchy in capitalist production, and that anarchy cannot be controlled.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views expressed here are those of the author.
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