The first lawsuit stemming from the 2026 multistate Cyclospora outbreak was filed in federal court this week against Pacific Bells, LLC, the Washington-based operator of a Taco Bell restaurant in Ohio.
Food safety attorney Bill Marler filed suit July 16 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of Mohammed R. Ayyad, a North Olmsted resident who contracted cyclosporiasis after eating at the restaurant on Lorain Road. The complaint names the operator and five unnamed produce suppliers and distributors.
Ayyad ate at the restaurant on June 14 and June 21. Three days after his second visit, he experienced severe headache, chills, vomiting and diarrhea — symptoms consistent with Cyclospora's known incubation window. He sought urgent care at a Cleveland Clinic facility in early July. A stool sample collected July 6 tested positive five days later.
The outbreak is substantial. The CDC confirmed 1,645 domestic cases of cyclosporiasis since May 1, with an additional 5,100 cases under epidemiological review, according to a Health Alert Network advisory issued July 14. That compares with 249 cases during the same five-week period in 2025, a nearly 28-fold increase year-over-year. Confirmed illnesses have spread across 34 states. Approximately 9 percent of patients required hospitalization.
The CDC has flagged that cyclosporiasis is chronically underdiagnosed and underreported, meaning the actual toll is likely higher.
Investigators in Michigan identified salad greens as a likely source. In early July, Taco Bell restaurants across Michigan and beyond posted notices they could no longer serve lettuce, cilantro, onions, pico de gallo or guacamole. Federal and state officials confirmed they were investigating whether the chain's food supply was implicated.
"This is the first case, and it will not be the last," Marler said. "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."
Marler's firm has recovered more than $900 million for foodborne illness victims since 1993.
The complaint asserts claims 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 consumer protection law, prejudgment interest, and attorneys' fees, and demands a jury trial.
Cyclospora outbreaks have become a seasonal fixture in American food production. Contaminated produce moves through supply chains with minimal transparency into contamination sources. The produce supply chain's opacity — from farm to distributor to supplier to restaurant — makes identifying specific growers or fields responsible for contamination difficult.
The complaint names suppliers as "John Doe Corporations 1–5," acknowledging that the supply chain resists disclosure. Discovery in the case will attempt to identify the actual defendants.
