Thousands of people across the country have fallen ill with cyclosporiasis, the dreaded infection brought on by a parasite whose source has yet to be identified.
And while New England has so far avoided the worst of the outbreak, the threat of explosive diarrhea has plenty of people on edge — though not the edge of their toilet seats.
Health officials have not definitively identified the source of the infections, though investigators in the Midwest have said those outbreaks may be tied to lettuce or salad greens.
That hasn’t stopped irreverent observers on social media from spinning up memes and commentary on the situation.
Past cyclospora outbreaks have been caused by lettuce and other leafy greens, as well as other types of produce such as raspberries and snow peas. Infections typically spread from foods exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.
In the current outbreak, no produce grower or supplier has been identified as the source of the contamination. Taco Bell said Tuesday that it had “voluntarily and temporarily” removed certain ingredients at select restaurants “as a precautionary measure.”
(Lettuce, cilantro, and other ingredients were still on sale at Boston-area Taco Belllocations on Wednesday.)
Nevertheless, the outbreak has salad eaters questioning their healthy dining habits — and non-salad-eaters affirming theirs.
Even Merriam-Webster made greens the butt of the joke.
Others on social media noted that the outbreak comes after the Trump administration’s funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including a program tracking longer-term trends for cyclospora and several other foodborne pathogens.
Health officials have said that program would not have materially impacted the response to the current outbreak, which is handled by a real-time detection system at the state level.
Nevertheless, some posters couldn’t help but draw parallels to a popular meme circulating after the 2024 presidential election — where, per the meme, the “Everyone Gets A Puppy” platform just barely loses out to the “Diarrhea Forever” one.
Some, such as progressive commentator David Sirota, went further still in their prognoses.
In Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health recorded 18 cases of cyclosporiasis between May 1 and July 1. That’s a relatively normal amount for Massachusetts at this time of year, where seasonal increases are common.
Health officials said the next update to the state’s foodborne illness data would come on Aug. 1, “barring any unusual activity in reported cases in Massachusetts.”
The Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment said in a statement that Cape Cod residents should still be able to enjoy locally grown produce.
“This is a good moment to brush up on produce safety, not a reason to skip the farmers market,” the department said.
With Massachusetts bathrooms mostly safe for the moment, some online commenters expressed their exasperation at the barrage of cyclospora concerns popping up online.
“This is going to become the new ‘is this a tick? How bad are ticks at x place???’” wrote one commente r on Reddit. “[It will be] daily posting.”
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
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