As reported by People citing WISN., Gretchen Pleuss and her husband went to Yellowstone National Park to celebrate their recent wedding when the woman felt unwell.
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“I felt fine until we arrived here. After a few days of camping in the Badlands, my symptoms started,” Pleuss told the portal.
“It was just endless diarrhea,” she added.
Pleuss said the abdominal pain became so severe that she eventually sought help at the local emergency room. There, doctors informed her that her test for cyclosporiasis was positive.
The woman believes she may have contracted the parasitic infection from eating a sandwich with chopped lettuce.
“It felt like my intestines were very tense, as if something was squeezing them,” Pleuss described her condition.
Despite the unpleasant experience, the newlyweds are trying to stay as calm as possible about the situation.
“It’s still our honeymoon, so we’re trying to make the best of it,” she said.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1,644 cases of cyclosporiasis have been confirmed in five states in the US. Ninety-four patients have been hospitalized.
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The current outbreak is linked to chopped so-called iceberg lettuce.
California-based agricultural company Taylor Farms, which supplies lettuce to US retail stores and restaurants, has initiated a recall of all such lettuce sourced from central Mexico.
“Although the traceability investigation points to a specific independent farm that accounts for less than 1% of the US iceberg lettuce supply as a possible source of the outbreak, we have removed all iceberg lettuce from this region indefinitely,” the company added.
The recall occurred after the CDC identified that lettuce supplied to Taco Bell restaurants was one of several sources of the outbreak in multiple states.
The restaurant chain announced in a statement provided to PEOPLE on Friday, July 17, that it had removed Taylor Farms lettuce from all its restaurants.
“Taco Bell has taken precautionary measures and urges all related restaurants, retailers, and food service providers to do the same,” the restaurant chain added.
The main symptoms of cyclosporiasis are watery, sometimes very sudden and severe diarrhea, fatigue, and loss of appetite, according to the CDC. Symptoms usually begin about a week after infection.
