July 30 (Reuters) – Michigan reported 10,386 cases linked to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis on Thursday, up 309 from its last update a day earlier.
Cases of the intestinal infection have risen steadily across the U.S., with the outbreak resulting in 193 hospitalizations, according to the state health department’s latest update. There have been no deaths reported so far.
Here are some details:
• Cyclosporiasis can be contracted by consuming food — typically raw fruits and vegetables — or water contaminated with feces.
• Caused by the cyclospora parasite, it can lead to diarrhea, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.
• An investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has linked the outbreak, which has expanded to nine states, to iceberg lettuce sourced from privately held Taylor Farms operations in central Mexico, but authorities are still looking for other potential sources.
• As of July 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 6,707 laboratory-confirmed cases of the disease since May 1, with more than 11,500 additional suspected cases still awaiting confirmation or further investigation.
• Data from healthcare analytics company Truveta showed the rate of cyclosporiasis diagnoses this July was more than 11 times higher than the average seen in July over the past eight years. More than one in five patients ended up in the emergency department within two weeks of diagnosis, while nearly one in eight were hospitalized.
• Cuts across federal health agencies have complicated the government’s ability to respond to foodborne disease outbreaks, former CDC officials and food safety experts said.
• CDC’s surveillance updates do not include probable cases. State data may include probable and confirmed cases, resulting in higher case counts than what CDC reports. CDC said it is working closely with states to update numbers as additional cases are confirmed.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole and Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
