July 15, 2026
Yo Quiero Cyclospora? Taco Bell Investigated As Possible Source Of Outbreak
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RSS Feed The Washington Post is reporting that two sources have confirmed Federal and Michigan state officials are looking into whether Taco Bell restaurants played a role in the current Cyclospora outbreak that has now sickened as many as 7 thousand people across 34 states. The epicenter of the outbreak is in Michigan, responsible for nearly half of the reported cases. In the Detroit area Taco Bell restaurants, signs are posted saying certain items are unavailable due to “a national recall.” While some have praised the restaurant for being proactive and voluntarily stopped serving lettuce, onions, cilantro, pico de gallo and guacamole, it’s paying the price, literally, with stocks plummeting nearly 5% in just one day.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks, it is Wednesday, July fifteenth. Then yo, kiero cyclospora. Yes, Taco Bell has a problem, and with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. We should say it is not confirmed, Robes, that Taco Bell is the problem in this current outbreak of cyclospora. However, there is something we need to pay attention to here.
00:00:26
Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. The Washington Post is reporting that authorities are in fact investigating both Lettuce and Taco Bell as the potential source of this latest cyclospora outbreak.
00:00:41
Speaker 1: That's a horrible headline.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: It's not It's the worst possible case scenario for Taco Bell. You do not want to be associated with an explosive diarrhea headlined.
00:00:52
Speaker 1: When your company is already the butt of jokes about some gastrointestinal issues you could have by eating there. That's just a part of popular culture. People love Taco Bell. It's one of the top fast food chains in the country. People love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. So rogues they hear that this place could be could be the epicenter.
00:01:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's concerning because look, this, like you say, is a beloved fast food chain, number four in the US. In terms of overall sales, sixteen point two billion dollars spent each year in Taco Bell restaurants in this country.
00:01:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, only McDonald's and Starbucks and Chick fil A are ahead of them. Correct, this is a big deal restaurant.
00:01:35
Speaker 2: It's affordable, it's tasty, and it's yes, exactly. I remember every Sunday my family after church went to Taco Bell. That was literally our post church lunch was Taco Bell.
00:01:51
Speaker 1: But what do you wanna do this afternoon going to swing by for old time six?
00:01:54
Speaker 2: I think I'm gonna avoid the bean and cheese burrito that I used to get, although it didn't have it didn't have onions.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: That might be a safe choice.
00:02:02
Speaker 2: It actually might be your best bet.
00:02:05
Speaker 1: And look, we're saying, but we have to make clear there is no government official. There is nobody from the CDC, there's no health official saying that Taco Bell is the cause. However, when you see these headlines and when you hear that Taco Bell has made moves voluntarily, it suggests something is uproads that's right.
00:02:28
Speaker 2: So the Washington Post is citing two anonymous sources who are quote familiar with the investigation, who have said that federal and state health officials are absolutely looking into whether Taco Bell restaurants played a role in the outbreak. And this outbreak is making headlines every single day, multiple times a day. We're now getting word that it may have sickened as many as seven thousand people in counting more than one hundred and forty hospitalizations. And yesterday we spoke with my dad, who is very familiar with food safety reco issues. He's a microbiologist. He said, whatever numbers you're seeing, at least double them, maybe even triple them, because people don't always go to the hospital or to their doctor when they have explosive diarrhea issues. They just wait for it to pass, take some pepto bismol, and call it a day. So we don't actually know the full scope of how many people have been sickened.
00:03:22
Speaker 1: Well, Rose, we woke up today to some pretty startling jumps in the numbers, especially in Michigan, and you just mentioned what the CDC is saying they think they're up to as many as seven thousand cases, but they don't know. But ro this was one of the most shocking overnight. At least increases to see that Michigan had jumped to some almost thirty five hundred cases, now thirty three hundred.
00:03:42
Speaker 2: I think therect Yes, that's where we are, and you mentioned Michigan, Well, it was in that state, specifically at some Detroit area Taco Bell restaurants where notices have been posted. People have been taking pictures of it, putting it up on social media. But it says, here is the sign currently unable to sell lettuce, cilantro, onion, pikata gayo and guacamole due to a nationwide recall.
00:04:09
Speaker 1: That's problem.
00:04:10
Speaker 2: That's not actually accurate.
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Really, that's not true.
00:04:15
Speaker 2: It's not true. There is no nationwide recall of lettuce, cilantro, onion, pikata gayo and guacamale.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: That's funny. How'd you do? You said that's inaccurate. I said, it's not true. The next person could say, oh, a right road, they said something. They posted it. Now that this could be a local person who put this trail and maybe not even understand it. Could be an honest mistake. But there it seems like they're trying to soften the impact. Hey, it ain't us. We were told we can't use this stuff because of a nationwide recall, And that's.
00:04:44
Speaker 2: A good point. This could just be individual franchise owners who have decided to explain why they are no longer offering those menu items. Because the official statement from Taco Bell headquarters reads as follows, the health and safety of our guests is our top priority. Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant, or retailer. While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.
00:05:21
Speaker 1: That's probably the right move, the right call. And that was actually a pretty good.
00:05:24
Speaker 2: Statement, yes, and that one is accurate and truthful. So at least from Taco Bell headquarters, it seems as though they are putting an honest foot forward. And look, some people. According to these two sources to the Washington Post, they say that some people who became ill told investigators they had eaten Taco Bell, but there were others who became sick who had not eaten there, and that is why they believe that the outbreak extends beyond Taco Bell.
00:05:54
Speaker 1: Again, they've been telling us robes lettuce and salad greens.
00:05:58
Speaker 2: Right, we think culprit possible, but they actually don't know. They don't know.
00:06:02
Speaker 1: And as your dad was explaining yesterday, suppose it started in some field, but once that was harvested and it goes to some facility, it gets mixed on all these machines and wash with other vegetables and fruits and all kinds of stuff, and it could be spreading to other things besides lettuce.
00:06:16
Speaker 2: It's incredibly difficult to pinpoint. Now, how about this. I'm sure you saw the TMZ headline. This is the kind of stuff that is just devastating to Taco Bell. The headline Taco Bell stock in the toilet.
00:06:30
Speaker 1: Okay, I get it. And that's gonna be a lot of those jokes. That's unfortunate.
00:06:34
Speaker 2: Wait for them. There's gonna be clickbait everywhere.
00:06:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know what, again, your dad was very good on this yesterday. We see the headlines. It is clickbait and is terrible as it is to have explosive diarrhea, uncomfortable as it is, This isn't a life threatening condition, hasn't taken any lives, and he did he said, be measured.
00:06:54
Speaker 2: Here.
00:06:55
Speaker 1: There are things to do with the ways you could take care of yourself, don't keep falling for the headlines that want to throw explosive in all of them. I thought he was very good and kind of calming people down, but also he gave steps or things you can do to be empowered in what you're doing. And it he wasn't fear mongering the way the headlines are and I appreciated.
00:07:15
Speaker 2: That exactly, and that is true, and that's all a measured response. But the reality is people are probably given a choice not going to go at least to a Michigan Taco Bell at this point. But look, with thirty four states now involved in this outbreak, look, this could have a devastating impact at least temporarily on Taco Bell, and who knows if it would have long term effects. But right now, just with some of those headlight lines percolating, Taco Bell stock dropped almost five percent four and a half percent in one trading day, and it is still sliding in after hours trading as we speak. As we're recording this. The markets have not opened yet, but it's continuing a downward slide. So this this has significant financial impact on Taco Bell.
00:08:04
Speaker 1: And when you think about that. You think about the bigger company and some CEO and their fat cats and the stockholders, And then I get folks, there's a manager at a local Michigan Taco Bell that might lose a job. There's somebody over at this plant wherever they figure this out, ropes things are being shut down. This impacts more than just somebody's bottom line and finances. Who is sitting in an office right, these folks and kids. A lot of times folks might lose jobs all this, So.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: It's the ripple effect is significant. And a lot of people look have praised Taco Bell for taking that step to voluntarily recall some of its products, wanting to make sure that yes, they are putting the safety of their customers ahead of their bottom line in this moment, because they know it's better to make sure they don't sicken people inadvertently and just out of an extreme of caution remove those items from their menu. And because they did that, obviously that got the attention of many, many folks. And now we've got the headlines that we have.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: When you tell us we're taking stuff off of the menu because we think it might not be safety eat, then there's nothing here safety in your restaurant. Correct, that's the conclusion people are going to come to. That's unfortunate road.
00:09:23
Speaker 2: But damn that is absolute true. Now, we do have some of the latest numbers on the outbreak, as we mentioned, but this I thought was interesting. So CDC says that they have identified a link among the cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. They do believe there is a common source in those four states. You got thirty other states, and the concern is it could be the same culprit, or it could be another one. There could be they say, multiple culprits among multiple outbreaks all at the same time. So think about this. This CDC, the FDA, health officials, and all of these individ states are all trying to collaborate and figure out if there's a single source or if there are multiple sources in these thirty four states. And I thought this was the big headline. They said to expect illnesses to increase through the end of August.
00:10:19
Speaker 1: I mean, because yes, we keep speaking on it could hit you in two days or could hit you in two weeks. So there are people consuming something today we won't realize are sick with cyclospora for several days and possibly a couple of weeks. It's hard to track this thing down. And anybody listening, what did you have for dinner last Tuesday? That's the challenge.
00:10:43
Speaker 2: If it was a taco now that you mentioned Tuesday.
00:10:47
Speaker 1: Oh, yes, didn't even think I got through that in that But yes, this is very difficult to do.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: All right. When we come back, we're going to talk about what the official FDA statement is about where they are in this investigation, and how well, because it's just everything is none of it's good news, and how this compares, this outbreak compares to just oh, let's say last year or the year before. Yeah, this is a big one. Welcome back everyone to this explosive edition of Amy and DJ. I just thought I joined in. All right, this is serious. As we heard from my father yesterday. You aren't going to die, but you might want to so if he is actually a really tough thing to get through. And if you have ever experienced the effects of cyclospora, Thankfully I don't believe I have, because I believe it's something you wouldn't forget. Even my dad said he's never experienced it before. But those who have, yes, but those who have, I'm sure this is something they won't ever take lightly again. They'll probably wash their vegetables and their fruits more than they ever have before.
00:12:08
Speaker 1: Put good nugget there, Robes, because we asked him, and you know what, this is important for you all to hear. What's the difference, Like why is it this word explosive is being thrown around, and what's the difference between this and regular diarrhea? Robes. We got to have your dad on a lot of on stuff because it was a calming, simple way to explain it. It makes sense, and frankly, it's not as gross maybe as I thought it was going to be. This is a very simple reason about the parasite in particular, Robes creates gas. It's a gas producing parasite. It essentially puts more gas in your body. So now you got diarrhea. The gas is in there as well.
00:12:53
Speaker 2: And so you see it out in an explosive way.
00:12:55
Speaker 1: And that's why it's that. So it's not as far as what he seemed to explain, Robe not a more severe case of diarrhea necessarily is just how it's going to exit.
00:13:05
Speaker 2: Based on the paris I mean, if I'm going to have it exit. I'd rather have it exit quickly explosively. Though. Yeah, that's some cleanup involved, it sounds like to me. But look, the CDC issued this is interesting Tuesday yesterday issued a national health alert to doctors and to health officials. They are saying, you need to test all of your patients who are experiencing any gastrointestinal issues for cyclospora because, by the way, that is not a typical test. In like, if you're routinely testing a patient who says, I've got cramps, I've got issues, I've got digestive issues, the routine is not or the standard is not to test for cyclospora. So now the CDC said, hey, doctors, hey health officials, you got anybody who has any gastro intestional issues, you need to order a cyclospora test in addition to your other tests, because we need to know what kind of numbers we're looking at.
00:14:03
Speaker 1: Actually, and they're having to do this now, ROMs because they took cyclospora off the list. Your dad explained, this was one of the things that we're constantly monitored and they had to report about. But now places don't have to do so. And the CDC doesn't have to, so that's we would have been monitoring.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: He said, yes, they're way behind, and that may mean because of that, we're behind in just even addressing it, getting the source of it, and stopping people from getting sick from it. So that is a real life implication of taking away that testing and that reporting. We're behind, and that means more people perhaps than would have ordinarily they are now getting sick because we haven't been on top of it. The FDA put out this statement, or one of the FDA spokespersons said, what I can say at this point is that we're continuing our trace back investigation on multiple produce items, including lettuce. So look they are yes, we heard lettuce, lettuce, lettuce, but the official word from the FDA is yeah, kind of anything is for grabs. And when we say anything and we heard this, there are actually specific produce that are known to transfer or to have cyclospora on them, and that includes basil, raspberries, salad mixes, cilantro, and snowpeas. So for whatever reason, those specific vegetables are oftentimes the culprit. So they are looking at all of those in addition to lettuce, and just for perspective, Michigan usually has about forty to fifty cases a year, and what we're up to thirty three hundred right now and counting just that we know of.
00:15:38
Speaker 1: Right man, this is I mean, thank goodness, as uncomfortable and awful and unpleasant as it is. And it sounds robes. People aren't dying. There have been when you say, one hundred and fifty around there hospitalizations. That's serious, but robes, we can't help bod if the numbers keep going up in the way they're talking about, how many more people are going to end up in the hospital or in worse condition. And look, just because people aren't dying doesn't mean this isn't absolutely horrific.
00:16:03
Speaker 2: Oh yes, And think about how many people are probably having to call out sick from work. I mean there is going to be a reduced workforce, just like we see in more maybe other days like you know, super Bowl or other fun things where people collectively will be calling out of work. You've now got thousands of people who clearly aren't going to the office with this condition.
00:16:25
Speaker 1: When they say you es, since you can't function, you got to be next to a bathroom at all time?
00:16:28
Speaker 2: WHOA And it can take up to a month to clear up on its own. So yes, you should seek medical attention just to get some antibiotics in your system. There are ways to treat this to lessen the severity of the disease and certainly to shorten the length of its impact on you. So the recommendation from everyone is to if you are experiencing massive gastro intentional issues, you should absolutely go to your.
00:16:54
Speaker 1: Doctor again to that. It's so, it's embarrassing, right it is.
00:16:58
Speaker 2: I don't want to go as it. I'm having explosive diarrhea. I know doctors see and hear everything, but there's just something about that that people just get shy about. You know what.
00:17:09
Speaker 1: But if you're feeling bad enough, if you don't give a damn look, that's true. This is what's happening.
00:17:13
Speaker 2: If you need help, seek it immediately.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: But it doesn't help with your social I mean you could at this point role you could tell somebody I got COVID and they might still go to the concert with you that night. But if you tell somebody you got explosive diarrhea.
00:17:25
Speaker 2: Stay the hell away from me.
00:17:27
Speaker 1: I'll catch you in a month, all right.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: Well, we will continue to monitor all of the developments of the cyclists Spora outbreak, but in the meantime, thank you all as always for listening to us. I made me Robot alongside DJ Holmes. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks, it is Wednesday, July fifteenth. Then yo, kiero cyclospora. Yes, Taco Bell has a problem, and with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. We should say it is not confirmed, Robes, that Taco Bell is the problem in this current outbreak of cyclospora. However, there is something we need to pay attention to here.
00:00:26
Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. The Washington Post is reporting that authorities are in fact investigating both Lettuce and Taco Bell as the potential source of this latest cyclospora outbreak.
00:00:41
Speaker 1: That's a horrible headline.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: It's not It's the worst possible case scenario for Taco Bell. You do not want to be associated with an explosive diarrhea headlined.
00:00:52
Speaker 1: When your company is already the butt of jokes about some gastrointestinal issues you could have by eating there. That's just a part of popular culture. People love Taco Bell. It's one of the top fast food chains in the country. People love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. So rogues they hear that this place could be could be the epicenter.
00:01:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's concerning because look, this, like you say, is a beloved fast food chain, number four in the US. In terms of overall sales, sixteen point two billion dollars spent each year in Taco Bell restaurants in this country.
00:01:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, only McDonald's and Starbucks and Chick fil A are ahead of them. Correct, this is a big deal restaurant.
00:01:35
Speaker 2: It's affordable, it's tasty, and it's yes, exactly. I remember every Sunday my family after church went to Taco Bell. That was literally our post church lunch was Taco Bell.
00:01:51
Speaker 1: But what do you wanna do this afternoon going to swing by for old time six?
00:01:54
Speaker 2: I think I'm gonna avoid the bean and cheese burrito that I used to get, although it didn't have it didn't have onions.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: That might be a safe choice.
00:02:02
Speaker 2: It actually might be your best bet.
00:02:05
Speaker 1: And look, we're saying, but we have to make clear there is no government official. There is nobody from the CDC, there's no health official saying that Taco Bell is the cause. However, when you see these headlines and when you hear that Taco Bell has made moves voluntarily, it suggests something is uproads that's right.
00:02:28
Speaker 2: So the Washington Post is citing two anonymous sources who are quote familiar with the investigation, who have said that federal and state health officials are absolutely looking into whether Taco Bell restaurants played a role in the outbreak. And this outbreak is making headlines every single day, multiple times a day. We're now getting word that it may have sickened as many as seven thousand people in counting more than one hundred and forty hospitalizations. And yesterday we spoke with my dad, who is very familiar with food safety reco issues. He's a microbiologist. He said, whatever numbers you're seeing, at least double them, maybe even triple them, because people don't always go to the hospital or to their doctor when they have explosive diarrhea issues. They just wait for it to pass, take some pepto bismol, and call it a day. So we don't actually know the full scope of how many people have been sickened.
00:03:22
Speaker 1: Well, Rose, we woke up today to some pretty startling jumps in the numbers, especially in Michigan, and you just mentioned what the CDC is saying they think they're up to as many as seven thousand cases, but they don't know. But ro this was one of the most shocking overnight. At least increases to see that Michigan had jumped to some almost thirty five hundred cases, now thirty three hundred.
00:03:42
Speaker 2: I think therect Yes, that's where we are, and you mentioned Michigan, Well, it was in that state, specifically at some Detroit area Taco Bell restaurants where notices have been posted. People have been taking pictures of it, putting it up on social media. But it says, here is the sign currently unable to sell lettuce, cilantro, onion, pikata gayo and guacamole due to a nationwide recall.
00:04:09
Speaker 1: That's problem.
00:04:10
Speaker 2: That's not actually accurate.
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Really, that's not true.
00:04:15
Speaker 2: It's not true. There is no nationwide recall of lettuce, cilantro, onion, pikata gayo and guacamale.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: That's funny. How'd you do? You said that's inaccurate. I said, it's not true. The next person could say, oh, a right road, they said something. They posted it. Now that this could be a local person who put this trail and maybe not even understand it. Could be an honest mistake. But there it seems like they're trying to soften the impact. Hey, it ain't us. We were told we can't use this stuff because of a nationwide recall, And that's.
00:04:44
Speaker 2: A good point. This could just be individual franchise owners who have decided to explain why they are no longer offering those menu items. Because the official statement from Taco Bell headquarters reads as follows, the health and safety of our guests is our top priority. Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant, or retailer. While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.
00:05:21
Speaker 1: That's probably the right move, the right call. And that was actually a pretty good.
00:05:24
Speaker 2: Statement, yes, and that one is accurate and truthful. So at least from Taco Bell headquarters, it seems as though they are putting an honest foot forward. And look, some people. According to these two sources to the Washington Post, they say that some people who became ill told investigators they had eaten Taco Bell, but there were others who became sick who had not eaten there, and that is why they believe that the outbreak extends beyond Taco Bell.
00:05:54
Speaker 1: Again, they've been telling us robes lettuce and salad greens.
00:05:58
Speaker 2: Right, we think culprit possible, but they actually don't know. They don't know.
00:06:02
Speaker 1: And as your dad was explaining yesterday, suppose it started in some field, but once that was harvested and it goes to some facility, it gets mixed on all these machines and wash with other vegetables and fruits and all kinds of stuff, and it could be spreading to other things besides lettuce.
00:06:16
Speaker 2: It's incredibly difficult to pinpoint. Now, how about this. I'm sure you saw the TMZ headline. This is the kind of stuff that is just devastating to Taco Bell. The headline Taco Bell stock in the toilet.
00:06:30
Speaker 1: Okay, I get it. And that's gonna be a lot of those jokes. That's unfortunate.
00:06:34
Speaker 2: Wait for them. There's gonna be clickbait everywhere.
00:06:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know what, again, your dad was very good on this yesterday. We see the headlines. It is clickbait and is terrible as it is to have explosive diarrhea, uncomfortable as it is, This isn't a life threatening condition, hasn't taken any lives, and he did he said, be measured.
00:06:54
Speaker 2: Here.
00:06:55
Speaker 1: There are things to do with the ways you could take care of yourself, don't keep falling for the headlines that want to throw explosive in all of them. I thought he was very good and kind of calming people down, but also he gave steps or things you can do to be empowered in what you're doing. And it he wasn't fear mongering the way the headlines are and I appreciated.
00:07:15
Speaker 2: That exactly, and that is true, and that's all a measured response. But the reality is people are probably given a choice not going to go at least to a Michigan Taco Bell at this point. But look, with thirty four states now involved in this outbreak, look, this could have a devastating impact at least temporarily on Taco Bell, and who knows if it would have long term effects. But right now, just with some of those headlight lines percolating, Taco Bell stock dropped almost five percent four and a half percent in one trading day, and it is still sliding in after hours trading as we speak. As we're recording this. The markets have not opened yet, but it's continuing a downward slide. So this this has significant financial impact on Taco Bell.
00:08:04
Speaker 1: And when you think about that. You think about the bigger company and some CEO and their fat cats and the stockholders, And then I get folks, there's a manager at a local Michigan Taco Bell that might lose a job. There's somebody over at this plant wherever they figure this out, ropes things are being shut down. This impacts more than just somebody's bottom line and finances. Who is sitting in an office right, these folks and kids. A lot of times folks might lose jobs all this, So.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: It's the ripple effect is significant. And a lot of people look have praised Taco Bell for taking that step to voluntarily recall some of its products, wanting to make sure that yes, they are putting the safety of their customers ahead of their bottom line in this moment, because they know it's better to make sure they don't sicken people inadvertently and just out of an extreme of caution remove those items from their menu. And because they did that, obviously that got the attention of many, many folks. And now we've got the headlines that we have.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: When you tell us we're taking stuff off of the menu because we think it might not be safety eat, then there's nothing here safety in your restaurant. Correct, that's the conclusion people are going to come to. That's unfortunate road.
00:09:23
Speaker 2: But damn that is absolute true. Now, we do have some of the latest numbers on the outbreak, as we mentioned, but this I thought was interesting. So CDC says that they have identified a link among the cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. They do believe there is a common source in those four states. You got thirty other states, and the concern is it could be the same culprit, or it could be another one. There could be they say, multiple culprits among multiple outbreaks all at the same time. So think about this. This CDC, the FDA, health officials, and all of these individ states are all trying to collaborate and figure out if there's a single source or if there are multiple sources in these thirty four states. And I thought this was the big headline. They said to expect illnesses to increase through the end of August.
00:10:19
Speaker 1: I mean, because yes, we keep speaking on it could hit you in two days or could hit you in two weeks. So there are people consuming something today we won't realize are sick with cyclospora for several days and possibly a couple of weeks. It's hard to track this thing down. And anybody listening, what did you have for dinner last Tuesday? That's the challenge.
00:10:43
Speaker 2: If it was a taco now that you mentioned Tuesday.
00:10:47
Speaker 1: Oh, yes, didn't even think I got through that in that But yes, this is very difficult to do.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: All right. When we come back, we're going to talk about what the official FDA statement is about where they are in this investigation, and how well, because it's just everything is none of it's good news, and how this compares, this outbreak compares to just oh, let's say last year or the year before. Yeah, this is a big one. Welcome back everyone to this explosive edition of Amy and DJ. I just thought I joined in. All right, this is serious. As we heard from my father yesterday. You aren't going to die, but you might want to so if he is actually a really tough thing to get through. And if you have ever experienced the effects of cyclospora, Thankfully I don't believe I have, because I believe it's something you wouldn't forget. Even my dad said he's never experienced it before. But those who have, yes, but those who have, I'm sure this is something they won't ever take lightly again. They'll probably wash their vegetables and their fruits more than they ever have before.
00:12:08
Speaker 1: Put good nugget there, Robes, because we asked him, and you know what, this is important for you all to hear. What's the difference, Like why is it this word explosive is being thrown around, and what's the difference between this and regular diarrhea? Robes. We got to have your dad on a lot of on stuff because it was a calming, simple way to explain it. It makes sense, and frankly, it's not as gross maybe as I thought it was going to be. This is a very simple reason about the parasite in particular, Robes creates gas. It's a gas producing parasite. It essentially puts more gas in your body. So now you got diarrhea. The gas is in there as well.
00:12:53
Speaker 2: And so you see it out in an explosive way.
00:12:55
Speaker 1: And that's why it's that. So it's not as far as what he seemed to explain, Robe not a more severe case of diarrhea necessarily is just how it's going to exit.
00:13:05
Speaker 2: Based on the paris I mean, if I'm going to have it exit. I'd rather have it exit quickly explosively. Though. Yeah, that's some cleanup involved, it sounds like to me. But look, the CDC issued this is interesting Tuesday yesterday issued a national health alert to doctors and to health officials. They are saying, you need to test all of your patients who are experiencing any gastrointestinal issues for cyclospora because, by the way, that is not a typical test. In like, if you're routinely testing a patient who says, I've got cramps, I've got issues, I've got digestive issues, the routine is not or the standard is not to test for cyclospora. So now the CDC said, hey, doctors, hey health officials, you got anybody who has any gastro intestional issues, you need to order a cyclospora test in addition to your other tests, because we need to know what kind of numbers we're looking at.
00:14:03
Speaker 1: Actually, and they're having to do this now, ROMs because they took cyclospora off the list. Your dad explained, this was one of the things that we're constantly monitored and they had to report about. But now places don't have to do so. And the CDC doesn't have to, so that's we would have been monitoring.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: He said, yes, they're way behind, and that may mean because of that, we're behind in just even addressing it, getting the source of it, and stopping people from getting sick from it. So that is a real life implication of taking away that testing and that reporting. We're behind, and that means more people perhaps than would have ordinarily they are now getting sick because we haven't been on top of it. The FDA put out this statement, or one of the FDA spokespersons said, what I can say at this point is that we're continuing our trace back investigation on multiple produce items, including lettuce. So look they are yes, we heard lettuce, lettuce, lettuce, but the official word from the FDA is yeah, kind of anything is for grabs. And when we say anything and we heard this, there are actually specific produce that are known to transfer or to have cyclospora on them, and that includes basil, raspberries, salad mixes, cilantro, and snowpeas. So for whatever reason, those specific vegetables are oftentimes the culprit. So they are looking at all of those in addition to lettuce, and just for perspective, Michigan usually has about forty to fifty cases a year, and what we're up to thirty three hundred right now and counting just that we know of.
00:15:38
Speaker 1: Right man, this is I mean, thank goodness, as uncomfortable and awful and unpleasant as it is. And it sounds robes. People aren't dying. There have been when you say, one hundred and fifty around there hospitalizations. That's serious, but robes, we can't help bod if the numbers keep going up in the way they're talking about, how many more people are going to end up in the hospital or in worse condition. And look, just because people aren't dying doesn't mean this isn't absolutely horrific.
00:16:03
Speaker 2: Oh yes, And think about how many people are probably having to call out sick from work. I mean there is going to be a reduced workforce, just like we see in more maybe other days like you know, super Bowl or other fun things where people collectively will be calling out of work. You've now got thousands of people who clearly aren't going to the office with this condition.
00:16:25
Speaker 1: When they say you es, since you can't function, you got to be next to a bathroom at all time?
00:16:28
Speaker 2: WHOA And it can take up to a month to clear up on its own. So yes, you should seek medical attention just to get some antibiotics in your system. There are ways to treat this to lessen the severity of the disease and certainly to shorten the length of its impact on you. So the recommendation from everyone is to if you are experiencing massive gastro intentional issues, you should absolutely go to your.
00:16:54
Speaker 1: Doctor again to that. It's so, it's embarrassing, right it is.
00:16:58
Speaker 2: I don't want to go as it. I'm having explosive diarrhea. I know doctors see and hear everything, but there's just something about that that people just get shy about. You know what.
00:17:09
Speaker 1: But if you're feeling bad enough, if you don't give a damn look, that's true. This is what's happening.
00:17:13
Speaker 2: If you need help, seek it immediately.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: But it doesn't help with your social I mean you could at this point role you could tell somebody I got COVID and they might still go to the concert with you that night. But if you tell somebody you got explosive diarrhea.
00:17:25
Speaker 2: Stay the hell away from me.
00:17:27
Speaker 1: I'll catch you in a month, all right.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: Well, we will continue to monitor all of the developments of the cyclists Spora outbreak, but in the meantime, thank you all as always for listening to us. I made me Robot alongside DJ Holmes. We'll talk soon.