Michigan health officials say cyclosporiasis outbreak could be largest in U.S. history
Cases of a diarrhea-causing parasite in Michigan are now 10 times higher than they were a little less than two weeks ago, officials say.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is now tracking more than 3,309 cyclosporiasis cases across the state as of July 14. MDHHS says lettuce and salad greens lead the list of potential sources for the cyclosporiasis outbreak, as cases reached more than 65 times Michigan's annual average on Tuesday.
"In Michigan alone, with more than 3,300 cases, this already makes this likely the largest cyclosporiasis outbreak in U.S. history," said MDHHS Chief Medical Executive, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian.
That's roughly 10 times the number of cases reported on July 2.
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has received reports of 1,645 confirmed domestic cases since May 1, but is aware of more than 5,100 cases that require further analysis to determine whether the infections were acquired in the U.S. The number of cases presented by the CDC traditionally lags what is posted by individual city and state health departments dealing with local outbreaks in real time.
The CDC says no deaths have been reported, and data showed that Michigan was leading in the number of cases.
As of Monday, Wayne County leads the state with nearly 340 cases. Almost all Southeast Michigan counties now have more than 100 people with confirmed cases.
"We've interviewed more than 1,000 of them, so we have data from over 1,000 of them. Where they've eaten, what restaurants they've been to, which fast food chains, which menu items they've ordered. So far, the early data is really starting to show some signals around lettuce and salad greens," Bagdasarian said.
The CDC says more than 30 other states besides Michigan are reporting cases, but it's not yet known if this is linked to national or regional distribution.
Argus Farm Stop in Ann Arbor says it feels more in control amid the outbreak by sourcing produce from local Michigan farms.
"We know exactly what farm you bought your produce from, and we can contact that farm directly and immediately make changes to the distribution that's happening," said Argus Farm Stop marketing manager Alex Blume.
Bagdasarian suggests using a whole head of lettuce instead of bagged greens. Cyclospora can be tough to wash off, so she says to remove outer leaves before thoroughly washing the inner leaves to reduce risk.
Bagdasarian says heat is the best way to kill the parasite, so if you can, cook your food, and that goes for all produce, not just greens.
