While health authorities continue working to contain the multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak, a new food contamination investigation has raised alarms across the United States. More than 19 million eggs have been recalled after health officials linked them to a Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak that has already caused illness in nearly 100 people in 17 states.

Although the investigation indicates that products distributed by Midwest Poultry Services are a likely source of the infections, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it is still working to determine whether other sources of contamination are involved. The alert has prompted officials to urge consumers, grocery stores, and restaurants to check the products they purchased and avoid consuming any eggs included in the recall.

Why were millions of eggs recalled?

The voluntary recall was announced by Midwest Poultry Services L.P., an Indiana-based company that produced the eggs at two farms in Texas. In total, the company recalled 1,589,577 dozen eggs — equivalent to more than 19 million eggs — after detecting potential salmonella contamination through its environmental monitoring program and operational review.

The FDA said that epidemiological evidence, laboratory testing, and traceback data indicate that the recalled eggs are a likely source of the outbreak. However, the agency noted that the identified producer does not account for all reported illnesses and that the investigation remains ongoing.

Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Symptoms typically develop between six and 72 hours after consuming contaminated food and, in most cases, resolve within four to seven days.

However, the infection can be particularly severe for young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems, who face a higher risk of complications requiring medical treatment or hospitalization. Health officials recommend seeking medical care if symptoms consistent with salmonella infection develop after consuming eggs included in the recall.

How many people have become ill?

According to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the outbreak has resulted in 98 confirmed cases across 17 states, including 26 hospitalizations. No deaths have been reported.

Illnesses began between November 21, 2025, and June 30, 2026, although health officials believe the true number of infections is likely higher. Many people recover without seeking medical care or undergoing testing, meaning their illnesses are never officially confirmed. Patients range in age from less than one year old to 81 years old, with a median age of 48.

Texas accounts for the vast majority of cases, with 73 infections, followed by Louisiana with five and Arizona with four. Additional cases have been reported in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

Investigation points to eggs

During the epidemiological investigation, public health officials interviewed 44 infected individuals and found that 40 of them (91%) had eaten eggs during the week before becoming ill.

In addition, genetic sequencing performed on bacteria isolated from patients showed they belonged to the same strain of Salmonella Enteritidis. At the same time, samples collected by the company at its Texas farms also tested positive for that same strain, further strengthening the link between the recalled eggs and the outbreak.

Which brands and products are affected?

The eggs were distributed between June 6 and July 3 2026, to grocery stores, restaurants, and other commercial food establishments.

Brands included in the recall are Kroger, Simple Truth, Brookshire’s, Country Morning, and Sunups, in various sizes of white shell eggs and cage-free brown eggs.

The products were sold at Kroger stores in Texas and Louisiana, as well as Brookshire’s supermarkets in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi, in addition to other retailers and food distributors.

How can consumers identify the recalled eggs?

The FDA advises consumers to check egg cartons for plant codes P-1950 or 0840962, best-by dates between July 20 and August 17, 2026, and Julian dates ranging from 157 to 184.

If a product matches those identifiers, consumers should not eat it. Instead, they should discard it or return it to the store where it was purchased for a refund. The FDA also recommends thoroughly washing and sanitizing any surfaces or containers that came into contact with the recalled eggs to help prevent cross-contamination.

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Several people have been trapped following an explosion at the Aeon Mall shopping center, according to the Kumamoto Prefecture Fire Department on the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan, after a strong 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck, followed by a 6.1-magnitude aftershock, according to data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Fuji TV reports that there are numerous fatalities among those trapped in the building, although there is no official confirmation of the deaths at this time.

The earthquake has also left at least 50 people injured, including some at the shopping center, and has cut power to approximately 40,000 households. The quake has also forced the temporary suspension of rail services, including the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train. The Kyushu Railway Company itself has confirmed that a freight train derailed in the city of Yatsushiro in the southern part of the prefecture.

About 300,000 people have been instructed to go to evacuation centers, the Japanese disaster management agency announced.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated in Tokyo that the number of victims and the extent of the damage in the area — which was devastated by another earthquake a decade ago — were still being assessed. Takaichi also noted that “in some areas, there have been power outages and fires, and damage to roads and bridges has been reported, as well as the collapse of buildings.”

Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara explained during a press conference that “given the number of areas without water supply, specific aid will be provided,” according to NHK television.

“We are using helicopters from the police, the fire department, and the military to assess the situation from the air and determine the extent of the damage. As soon as we can, we will report on this and take the necessary steps to assist the population,” Kihara stated.

Previously, authorities had urged the public to stay away from coastal areas as much as possible and emphasized that the earthquake’s intensity was 7 — the highest on the Japanese scale — in areas of Uki and Hikawa, while it reached level six in surrounding areas, according to reports from the Kyodo News Agency.

Authorities had initially issued a tsunami warning. That threat has now been downgraded, and there is considered to be no risk of a tsunami along the country’s coast, according to the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear agency, later confirmed that there is no damage or safety issues at the Sendai nuclear power plant, according to information provided by Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority.

“The IAEA will continue to monitor the situation,” the agency stated in a post on social media platform X.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the earthquake occurred at 4:27 p.m. local time, and its epicenter was located about 12 miles south of Kumamoto, the largest city on the central island of Kyushu, which has a population of about 700,000 people.

Explosion

Late in the afternoon in Japan, a fleet of fire trucks was still searching for people trapped in the rubble of the Aeon Mall shopping center. A spokesperson for the facility, located in the town of Hikawa, explained that the explosion occurred while customers and employees were being evacuated following the earthquake and that the exact cause of the incident was still unclear.

According to a statement from the Kumamoto Fire Department, the second floor of the building collapsed, trapping numerous people under the rubble. About 200 people managed to take refuge in the outdoor parking lot.

An employee at a nearby restaurant, identified by the TBS network as Kazuya Tsurunaga, said he heard the loud bang from inside his establishment, located about 300 meters away from the shopping center.

“It was a huge explosion,” he said. “A huge cloud of smoke rose, and since the wind was blowing toward the restaurant, the area around us looked as if it were under a shower of volcanic ash.”

Other buildings in the area were also on fire or partially collapsed, according to footage from NHK television, which also showed large cracks in major roads, including on a highway overpass.

Kyushu is Japan’s third-largest island and is home to two nuclear power plants: the Genkai plant in Saga Prefecture and the Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture. Emergency earthquake alerts have been extended to other prefectures. In addition to Kumamoto, these include Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki, all of which are located on the island of Kyushu.

The Japanese archipelago is situated at the intersection of four tectonic plates and accounts for 10% of all the world’s earthquakes — or about 2,000 per year — according to the JMA. Situated along the so-called Ring of Fire — a chain of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partially surrounds that region of the Pacific Ocean — it accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or higher.

When an earthquake of this magnitude occurs, one of the main concerns in Japan is usually its nuclear power plants, especially since the accident at the Fukushima plant on March 11, 2011. That incident — the worst at a nuclear power plant since Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, now part of Ukraine — occurred after a magnitude 9 earthquake that triggered a tsunami.

Before the United Nations nuclear agency confirmed the findings following Tuesday’s earthquake, Kyushu Electric Power had stated that no abnormalities had been detected at its Sendai and Genkai nuclear power plants.

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With just over three months to go before the November congressional elections in the United States, a federal appeals court has upheld the injunction blocking one of President Donald Trump’s key measures to change the administration of mail-in voting. The decision prevents the government, for now, from imposing new restrictions in the 23 states and the District of Columbia that challenged the executive order in court.

The ruling was issued Sunday by the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which rejected the administration’s request to lift an injunction that suspended the measure’s implementation while the litigation continues. The ruling protects the plaintiff states from the changes planned for the midterm elections on November 3.

The executive order, signed by Trump in March, directs the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to compile a federal list of citizens eligible to vote. It also stipulates that the U.S. Postal Service deliver mail-in ballots only to individuals included in that registry.

The president defended the initiative as a tool to prevent non-U.S. citizens from participating in elections and argued that it was necessary to strengthen election security. “The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary,” Trump said in the Oval Office before signing the executive order.

However, state election officials and Democratic attorneys general argue that the measure exceeds the federal executive branch’s authority and could disrupt the organization of the elections by imposing new requirements just weeks before the vote.

In a 2-1 split decision, the majority of the First Circuit panel concluded that the executive order represents an unprecedented level of federal involvement in the administration of state elections. The judges noted that, if implemented before the November election, the new rules could cause confusion among voters and affect the access of eligible voters.

The justices also noted that the Constitution assigns to the states the primary responsibility for administering federal elections, an argument that was also central to the lawsuit filed by the states.

The legal dispute began after Democratic officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on April 3 in a federal court in Boston. The plaintiffs argue that the president lacks the authority to unilaterally change election rules, as that power belongs to Congress and the states themselves.

In June, Federal Judge Indira Talwani granted a preliminary injunction that blocked the enforcement of the executive order in the states that filed the lawsuit. The administration appealed that decision, but the appeals court ruled to uphold the injunction while the case proceeds.

However, the ruling does not definitively resolve the dispute, nor does it have nationwide scope. The decision only protects the states that participated in the lawsuit, so there is still uncertainty regarding the possible enforcement of the restrictions in other states that are not part of the litigation.

This situation contrasts with a ruling issued last week by another federal appeals court, which overturned a separate injunction that had blocked the measure’s implementation on a broader scale. As a result, the legal landscape remains fragmented and could lead to different rules depending on the state where the elections are held.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice stated that it is reviewing all available options and expressed confidence that the executive order will ultimately be upheld by the courts.

The possibility that the case will reach the Supreme Court remains open, especially given the differences between the rulings issued by various federal courts regarding the scope of the injunctions.

All of this is taking place amid the debate over mail-in voting, a system widely used in many states and whose security has been questioned by Trump for several years. The president has repeatedly argued that this method facilitates voter fraud, although various investigations and reviews of past elections have found few instances of irregularities.

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