Fewer customers stopped by Taco Bell and other lettuce focused spots such as Panera last week while a cyclospora outbreak expanded.

Location data from Placer.ai indicates that visits to affected chains started slipping in the latter part of the week once news of the parasite spread.

After holding steady or showing only minor dips early on, traffic at Taco Bell outlets dropped 4.6 percent on Friday, July 10, versus the weekly average for that day. The decline reached 5.8 percent on Saturday.

Shredded lettuce tainted with cyclospora and served at Taco Bell restaurants in five states has sickened more than 1,600 individuals, the Food and Drug Administration reported on Thursday. The source was traced to Taylor Farms, a key produce provider for many eateries and stores.

Taco Bell announced late Thursday that it had moved quickly to pull the suspect lettuce from locations in select states.

The company added that the problematic item would be removed from the national supply chain and replaced within 24 hours in the impacted areas. Earlier in the week the chain had already withdrawn several fresh items including onions, lettuce, and tomatoes from Midwest sites.

Other chains heavy on leafy greens showed comparable traffic patterns even though they were not tied to the outbreak.

Panera Bread recorded a 3 percent drop on Friday and a 7.4 percent fall on Saturday. Chopt, the salad focused chain active in New York, Washington DC, and other eastern markets, posted a 7.1 percent decline on Saturday.

In Michigan, where early cases clustered, the reductions were sharper. Taco Bell locations there saw traffic fall 7.3 percent on Friday and 10.9 percent on Saturday.

Placer.ai noted that while only a few days of data are available, the headlines and removals appear to be exerting a modest pull on visits to quick service restaurants.

Taco Bell, Panera, and Chopt offered no comment on the figures.

Traffic at other large chains remained steady or rose. Chick fil A, Cava, Subway, and Jersey Mike's Subs showed little change or gains late in the week.

The outbreak has reached 34 states since May 1, per the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update released Tuesday. Confirmed cases are listed, yet the true total is believed to be higher.