The FDA retracted the results of a single lab test in the ongoing cyclospora outbreak linked to Taco Bell lettuce. Now there is growing public confusion about what to believe.

I served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer for the CDC, and I understand how outbreak investigations work. Hearing that a single lab test did not confirm the presence of the parasite might be confusing—but one data point, like a negative test or a retraction, does not automatically mean public health investigators have it wrong.

Why Outbreak Science Is More Than One Test

There is a rigorous, time-tested approach for identifying culprits in food outbreaks. For decades, this approach has solved outbreak after outbreak. These include notable incidents like the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak........

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