Cyclospora cases climb to 995 in Illinois amid national outbreak

Cases of cyclosporiasis have climbed to 995 amid the national outbreak, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

As of Tuesday morning, the Illinois case count included 631 acquired domestically and 193 among patients who traveled outside the U.S. So far, there have been 58 hospitalizations. 

Tuesday's total marks nearly 300 more cases than last week's 707 confirmed and probable cases statewide. 

While no deaths have been reported locally, on Monday, two Michigan residents died after contracting cyclosporiasis, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said. Health officials said the two people who died had "significant underlying health conditions." 

Michigan and Ohio officials have reported a high number of cases of the parasite-borne illness, which causes diarrhea and nausea.

Taylor Farms remains focus of FDA cyclospora investigation, despite false positive test

A sample of lettuce from Taylor Farms that had tested positive for cyclospora was a false positive, the Food and Drug Administration said last month. But the FDA said that its investigation and data "continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms locations in central Mexico." 

In the statement announcing the false positive, the FDA said that as of last month, it had not found any "confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora."  

In a subsequent statement, it said, "To clarify, this false-positive lab sample DOES NOT change the basis for FDA's ongoing outbreak investigation or the overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall by Taylor Farms." 

Taylor Farms then said it was "voluntarily removing" iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico after the lettuce had been linked to one of the largest outbreaks of cyclosporiasis in the U.S. in recent years.   

The lettuce supplier was linked to fast-food giant Taco Bell in the national outbreak. 

Taco Bell said that as of July 17, it "has completed removal of affected Taylor Farms lettuce from our restaurants."  

How to prevent cyclosporiasis

You can easily lower your exposure to the cyclospora parasite by washing your hands and surfaces doing food preparation, by washing raw ingredients in cold water, and by thoroughly cooking fruits and vegetables.

Vinegar does not kill cyclospora, but it could help clean some of them off. In 2021, researchers in Norway added one part vinegar to three parts water and tested that mixture to clean three types of parasites from raspberries and blueberries.

The researchers found the mixture overall removed more parasites from both berries, but not a significant amount more than cleaning the berries in a salad spinner. It did help clean the berries more than just running them under water.

The CDC also recommends cutting away any damaged or bruise areas on fruits or vegetables before preparing and eating, and refrigerating cut, peeled or cooked fruits and vegetables as soon as possible.