A public-health surveillance site tracking STEC E. coli, Shigella, Salmonella, Cyclospora, Norovirus, and Listeria across leafy-greens and ground-beef supply chains. Every outbreak has a traceback chain, strain-level cluster linkage, and at least three source citations. Data: CDC NORS, FDA CORE, USDA-FSIS, NCBI Pathogen Detection.
lettuce-watch — Public health surveillance for foodborne outbreaks — leafy-greens + ground beef Operational since 2026-06-23.
7 tracked · data as of 2026-07-24
Multi-state outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to romaine lettuce harvested from the Yuma, Arizona growing region. Hospitalization rate was high (46%) and 26 cases developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). FDA traceback investigation identified contaminated irrigation water from a nearby cattle operation as the likely source.
Multi-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to slivered onions supplied to McDonald's restaurants via Taylor Farms. Initial hypothesis focused on the Quarter Pounder beef patties; traceback investigation redirected to a single onion processing facility. One death reported in Colorado.
Multi-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to organic whole carrots and organic baby carrots distributed by Grimmway Farms. 14 cases developed HUS. Recalled products were sold under multiple brand labels including Bunny-Luv, Cal-Organic, and O Organics.
CDC declared this Cyclospora outbreak over as of September 11, 2026. Final counts are 12,883 cases in 21 states, at least 570 hospitalizations, and 2 deaths in Michigan, with illness onsets from June 14 to August 17, 2026. The outbreak was linked to processed iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, sourced from central Mexico and recalled July 17, 2026. CDC reports that best-by dates for linked product have passed and the product is no longer available in stores or restaurants. FDA continues the outbreak investigation.
FDA closed this investigation, naming romaine lettuce as the cause. Total cases are 14. CDC declared the outbreak over as of July 29, 2026. Neither FDA nor CDC reported the name of the grower of the implicated romaine, and the growing region was not publicly confirmed. Hospitalization, HUS, and death counts were not published, and no state list was published.
Multi-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. Two outbreak strains were identified, suggesting two separate contamination events. Source investigation did not identify a single ingredient or supplier — the multi-matrix, multi-supplier structure of Chipotle's supply chain made source identification exceptionally difficult.
Multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Newport infections linked to ground beef products produced by JBS Tolleson, Inc. of Tolleson, Arizona. Recalled approximately 12 million pounds of beef products distributed under multiple brand labels. This was one of the largest ground beef recalls in recent USDA-FSIS history.
