First lawsuit filed in multistate Cyclospora outbreak

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WA, July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, today filed the first lawsuit arising out of the 2026 multistate Cyclospora outbreak, on behalf of an Ohio man who fell ill after eating at a Taco Bell restaurant in North Olmsted, Ohio. Case # 1-26-cv-01648.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, names Pacific Bells, LLC — the Washington company that owns and operates the North Olmsted Taco Bell at 24247 Lorain Road — together with the still-unidentified growers, suppliers, and distributors of the fresh produce implicated in the outbreak, named as John Doe Corporations 1–5.

According to the complaint, plaintiff Mohammed R. Ayyad ate meals at the North Olmsted Taco Bell on June 14 and again on June 21, 2026. He began experiencing symptoms of a Cyclospora infection on or about June 23 — squarely within the incubation period for the illness — including severe headache, chills, vomiting, and persistent diarrhea that left him unable to function. He sought medical care at a Cleveland Clinic urgent care facility on July 3, provided a stool sample on July 6, and tested positive for Cyclospora on July 9. He was prescribed a course of Bactrim, remains on antibiotic treatment, and missed approximately two weeks of work. His recovery is ongoing.

Ayyad’s illness is one small piece of an outbreak that federal officials have described in stark terms. On July 14, 2026, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Health Alert Network Health Advisory (CDCHAN-00531) reporting that, since May 1, it had received 1,645 confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis and was aware of more than 5,100 additional cases still under analysis — nearly 7,000 people nationwide. That is a staggering increase over the 249 cases reported nationally during the same period in 2025. Confirmed cases have been reported across 34 states; patients range in age from 2 to 95, with a median of 44; and roughly 9 percent have been hospitalized. Because cyclosporiasis is chronically underdiagnosed and underreported, the CDC acknowledges the true number is almost certainly higher.

Yesterday, the CDC posted an outbreak investigation notice reporting more than 400 linked illnesses across four states — Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky — that appear to share a common source. Public health officials in Michigan have identified salad greens as a likely source. In early July, Taco Bell restaurants in Michigan and elsewhere posted signs telling customers they could no longer serve lettuce, cilantro, onions, pico de gallo, or guacamole, and federal and state officials confirmed they were investigating whether food served at Taco Bell played a role in the outbreak. Every one of those withdrawn ingredients sits among the fresh produce items historically implicated in Cyclospora outbreaks.

“This is the first case, and it will not be the last,” said Bill Marler, the food safety attorney representing Ayyad. “We filed today to do two things: find out exactly where this parasite came from — which farm, which field, which supplier — and force the changes that keep it from landing on someone’s plate again next summer, and the summer after that. Cyclospora outbreaks follow the same script every year, and every year we act surprised. My client didn’t get sick because of bad luck. He got sick because contaminated produce moved through the supply chain and nobody stopped it.”

Marler added that the case is as much about prevention as accountability. “Cyclospora is badly undercounted — the CDC says so itself — and you cannot prevent what you refuse to count. If we want a summer without thousands of people doubled over from a parasite in their salad, we have to trace these outbreaks back to the source and fix the conditions that produce them.”

The complaint asserts claims for strict product liability under the Ohio Product Liability Act, violations of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, and breach of express and implied warranties. It seeks compensatory damages, treble damages under the Consumer Sales Practices Act, prejudgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and a trial by jury.

About Marler Clark
Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of foodborne illness. The firm has represented thousands of individuals in claims against companies whose contaminated products caused injury and death resulting from E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Cyclospora, Campylobacter, hepatitis A, and other foodborne pathogens. Founded by Bill Marler in the wake of the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, the firm has recovered over $900 million for its clients, and Bill Marler and his colleagues have become the food industry’s most prominent and effective advocates for improved food safety. Bill Marler and the firm’s work are the subject of the Emmy Award–winning Netflix documentary Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food (2023), based on Jeff Benedict’s book of the same name. Marler Clark is based on Bainbridge Island, Washington. For more information, visit www.marlerclark.com.