Ohio Cyclospora cases rank second nationally at 2,871
Ohio recorded 2,871 illnesses during the 2026 iceberg lettuce Cyclospora outbreak, the second-highest state total according to an H&P Law analysis of CDC and FDA records. The figure represented 22.3 percent of the 12,883 outbreak cases reported across 21 states. Michigan alone exceeded that count. The outbreak produced 570 hospitalizations and two deaths nationwide.
Five states accounted for 85 percent of all outbreak illnesses. Michigan reported 5,762 cases, or 44.7 percent of the total. Missouri followed with 1,071 cases representing 8.3 percent, Indiana recorded 870 cases at 6.8 percent, and Kansas had 373 cases at 2.9 percent.
Ohio's case count exceeded the combined totals from four neighboring states. Indiana reported 870 cases, Kentucky 366, Pennsylvania 271, and West Virginia 170, for a regional subtotal of 1,677. Michigan and Ohio together produced 8,633 illnesses, or 67 percent of the outbreak, underscoring pronounced Midwest concentration despite recalled product reaching 31 states.
The lettuce-linked outbreak differed sharply from the full 2026 Cyclospora season. It comprised 12,883 of the 20,996 nationally reported cases and 570 of 1,161 hospitalizations. The season-wide hospitalization rate reached 5.5 percent while the outbreak rate stood at 4.4 percent. The season affected 49 states plus the District of Columbia compared with 21 states for the outbreak alone.
National Cyclospora cases increased sharply year over year. CDC data showed 20,996 illnesses from May through August 2026 versus 1,180 during the same period in 2025, a rise of roughly 1,679 percent. The lettuce outbreak supplied 61.4 percent of the seasonal total and nearly half of all hospitalizations.
Federal officials have not explained the heavy Midwest concentration. Although recalled lettuce reached foodservice suppliers in 31 states, two states generated 67 percent of reported illnesses while the remaining 19 states recorded 4,250 cases combined. Published federal data also omit county-level breakdowns for Ohio.
Taylor Farms de Mexico began a voluntary recall on July 17. FDA sampling found Cyclospora in a wastewater tank at one processing facility and a drainage ditch at a grower site in Mexico. The agency stated the detections did not establish the exact route of contamination.
The CDC declared the outbreak over on September 11 and the FDA closed its investigation on October 2. Without county-level figures, local coverage of Ohio communities including Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Dayton lacks detail on which areas recorded the highest numbers of the state's 2,871 cases.
H&P Law compiled the state-level figures from CDC outbreak surveillance, national Cyclospora case reports, and FDA investigation records, keeping outbreak and season totals separate to avoid double-counting.
