Cyclospora Lawyer

If a Cyclospora infection left you with weeks of watery diarrhea, cramping, and fatigue that kept coming back, you’re not imagining how serious it feels. You may be able to hold the grower, importer, or restaurant that served the contaminated food responsible.

Cyclospora is spreading again in 2026. Public health agencies are investigating one of the largest cyclosporiasis outbreaks in years, with illnesses reported across more than 30 states. For the current case counts, the products recalled, and the latest updates, see our 2026 Cyclospora outbreak page.

How is Cyclospora diagnosed, and why does testing matter?

Cyclospora doesn’t show up on a routine stool test. Finding it takes a lab test that looks specifically for the parasite, and that test isn’t part of the standard ova-and-parasite panel most doctors order first. CDC guidance points to acid-fast staining and PCR, and because the parasite is shed unevenly, you may need to give samples on more than one day. If you only had a general stool culture, ask about targeted Cyclospora testing, especially if your symptoms eased and then came back.

That testing gap is a big reason the real number of cases runs higher than what gets reported. As of January 2026, the CDC had counted about 1,180 cyclosporiasis infections acquired in the United States during 2025, and the agency says the true total is higher because the parasite slips past a routine panel when no one orders the targeted test. For you, a confirmed result does two things. It answers the medical question, and it starts the record a claim depends on, from specialist referrals to treatment costs and follow-up visits. Companies defending these cases often argue the infection was never confirmed, or that no source can be traced, or that no one can pin down when the exposure happened. A positive Cyclospora test takes the first of those arguments off the table.

How Cyclospora outbreaks are traced to a food source

Cyclospora is a warm-season illness in the United States. Most cases show up from spring through summer, and they’re almost always tied to fresh produce rather than passed between people. There’s a biological reason the focus stays on food. The parasite a sick person sheds isn’t infectious right away and needs time in the environment before it can make anyone else sick, so it travels through contaminated food and water, not casual contact.

Recent investigations show how a source gets pinned down. In 2025, the FDA investigated a Cyclospora outbreak linked to parsley that sickened 69 people across four states, though the parsley had already cleared commerce and investigators never identified the grower or supplier. In a 2023 outbreak at an Alabama restaurant, health officials traced the illness to cilantro, and the people who ate it were far more likely to get sick. That cilantro was tracked to a Texas company with no food-manufacturing license that sourced it from Mexico. That chain of proof, from your lab result back to a supplier’s invoices, is what a Cyclospora lawsuit has to rebuild.

What to do if you’ve been diagnosed

Act quickly, because the evidence fades fast. Since symptoms usually start about a week after exposure, a restaurant may have thrown out fresh ingredients, contaminated produce may have shipped to other states, and receipts may be hard to find by the time you realize you’re sick. Start saving what you have now, including lab results, medical records, receipts, loyalty or delivery-app history, and any produce packaging still in your fridge from the week before you got sick. Write down every missed workday and follow-up visit.

Why work with our Cyclospora lawyers

Ron Simon & Associates is a Cyclospora law firm that handles food poisoning and foodborne illness cases and nothing else. Our lawyers have filed claims in earlier produce-linked outbreaks, and we build them the way public health investigators do, starting from lab confirmation and a symptom-onset timeline, then tracing the ingredient back to the grower, importer, or distributor that let contamination through. If you’re not sure whether you have a case, our guide on whether you can sue for food poisoning walks through eligibility, evidence, and next steps. When you’re ready, contact us for a free case evaluation. You pay us nothing unless we recover compensation for you.