Like Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over until it's over," and the Taco Bell-meets-bad-lettuce-meets-major-stomach-issues-thing is still out there running and gunning.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the CDC is “expanding the largest known cyclosporiasis outbreak to 15 states, adding six states where illnesses have been traced to shredded iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, according to three individuals familiar with the investigation.”

Now added to the mix are Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri – where things are really bad with 1,095 cases – Nebraska, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.

Investigators say that the spread in those states is “so far have publicly linked illnesses to only a portion of the states where the company said the recalled lettuce was distributed."

As if that's not enough, officials are also looking into outbreaks and illness in another 24 states that have previously not been linked to the outbreak.

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The AMA has a complete breakdown of what the disease does, how to prevent it, etc. It's available here.

Ongoing Efforts to Stop This From Spreading

"The Food and Drug Administration works to determine who produced the contaminated food and works with food companies to stop it from being sold," the Post's Lena H. Sun and Rachel Roubein, wrote. "The FDA also tries to identify how the food may have become contaminated."

Forewarned is forearmed, evidently. "The new cases being reported don’t necessarily mean the risk is still ongoing, experts have said. The true number of sick people in the multistate outbreak is probably higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses, the CDC said."

Gary P Guthrie

Gary Guthrie is Editor-in-Chief of Smart Senior Daily — broadcaster, consultant, station owner, and author of 3,500+ consumer articles across 50+ years. Also particular about his french fries (lightly done, always).