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Lettuce Investigate: 2026 Cyclospora Epidemiology
Lauren Ahart, MPH
Epidemiologist, Parasitic Diseases Branch Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases CDC
Lettuce Confirm: 2026 Cyclospora Lab Activities
Anna Peterson, PhD
Biologist, Lab Sciences and Diagnostics Branch Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases CDC
Lettuce Inform: 2026 Cyclospora Communications
Amanda MacGurn, MPH, MPS
Health Communications Specialist Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases CDC
MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Dear IDC Idea Warriors,
The word “Lettuce” has a whole garden of connotations.
To people who play sports (particularly, apparently, hockey), lettuce is what you call the glorious locks of hair that stick out of some players’ helmets.
In hip hop, lettuce is what you call a really expensive wig, weave, or hair extension.
To Boomers, lettuce is what you called Marijuana when you were talking about it in front of your parents.
To McDonald’s employees in the 1970s, lettuce was a key ingredient in TwoAllBeefPattiesSpecialSauceLettuceCheesePicklesOnionsOnASesameSeedBun; and
To British people, “a Wet Lettuce” is what Argentinians call a Mollejas (sweetbreads), the French call a Poule mouillée (wet hen), Germans call a Flachwurzler (shallow rooter), and Americans call a Wimp.
But, in the summer of 2026, NO ONE was calling the almost 20,000 people in the United States who were the reluctant stars of their very own homegrown horror movie, Invasion of the Parasites, a wet lettuce.
Even though wet lettuce may, in fact, have been deeply involved…. We all saw the headlines last summer:
Cyclosporiasis outbreak exposes a weakened US public health system (Reuters)
Cyclospora Was Already Hard to investigate. Funding Cuts Make it Harder (New York Times)
Don’t believe the Fake News (FDA post on X)*
and...
Is Trump to blame for Americans getting explosive diarrhea? (The Guardian Opinion)
*The FDA’s “Don’t believe the Fake News” post on X was widely ridiculed by independent food safety experts, who pointed out that the FDA made the 2026 food recall numbers look artificially low by padding the numbers from previous years through combining food recalls with unrelated medical device and drug recalls.
But what was going on behind the headlines during Cyclospora Summer 2026?
Inquiring minds want to know!! Are YOU an inquiring mind? Of course you are!!
Register now for the October 14th meeting of the Infectious Ideas Dinner Club when IIDC members-in-good-standing Lauren Ahart, Amanda Peterson, and Amanda McGurn give us a firsthand look at Life Behind the Headlines during Cyclospora Summer 2026.
Hope to see you at the Club on October 14!
-Kimbi