Michigan health officials confirmed the first two deaths connected to the ongoing national outbreak of cyclosporiasis, the parasitic infection known for causing explosive diarrhea.
Michigan, which has led the U.S. case count, reported 11,234 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis and the two deaths on Aug. 3. The state’s health department noted that both patients had “significant underlying health conditions” that may have been impacted by the illness and related dehydration.
Health officials didn’t immediately provide further information about the deceased. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet released a statement, but a banner atop its cyclospora tracking page read, “CDC is aware of two cyclosporiasis-related deaths in people with underlying health conditions from Michigan as part of this outbreak.”
The CDC did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Aug. 3.
“It’s a sobering reminder that foodborne illnesses should never be dismissed as ‘just a stomach bug,'” former Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas told USA TODAY. “Every preventable foodborne illness matters – and that prevention must always remain our highest priority.”
Cyclosporiasis is not generally considered deadly, though it can cause serious disease in certain at-risk people. Death from the infection is “uncommon” in the United States, said state health officials and the CDC, which describes cyclosporiasis as “not usually life-threatening.”
In fact, cyclosporiasis’ low death rate may contribute to the lack of regular surveillance and research of cyclospora in America, Dr. Robert Mandrell, a microbiology researcher and former U.S. Department of Agriculture official, told USA TODAY.
“Why is there not more interest in cyclospora until an outbreak happens? The major reason is that nobody dies; there are very few deaths,” he said. “If it’s E. coli O157:H7, it would get 10 times more notoriety because children are most vulnerable, they can get kidney disease and die … but cyclospora tends not to kill anybody.”
Cases number in the tens of thousands
Ohio and Michigan have led the charge in reporting confirmed cyclosporiasis cases, tracking numbers that well outpace federal totals. This is because cases tracked by the CDC are updated weekly and only reported if they have been laboratory confirmed, occurred since May 1, and cleared several other hurdles to be added to the nationwide count. CDC numbers tend to experience a six-week lag, according to the agency.
The latest CDC update on July 28 pinpointed 6,707 laboratory confirmed cases of the illness across 45 states since May 1, a more than 2,500 increase since its last report on July 21. Thousands of other suspected cases have not yet been confirmed by laboratories.
The Ohio Department of Health’s infectious disease dashboard showed 4,087 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis between May 1 and its last update on July 28. Add that to the over 11,000 in Michigan, and these two states alone already have more than double the last federally reported numbers.
Still tracking the source
The Michigan-centered outbreak that’s linked to recalled iceberg lettuce grown by Taylor Farms in Mexico has been identified as the largest outbreak nationwide, according to the FDA. But federal health authorities are also attempting to trace several smaller case clusters that don’t yet have an identified cause.
The source of a cyclosporiasis outbreak is more difficult to track than other foodborne illnesses because of a long incubation period, difficulty obtaining samples and the inability to use the same genetic tracking tools available for pathogens like E. coli and listeria, as previously reported by USA TODAY.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a July 21 news briefing that the outbreak was “under control.” But critics have pointed toward cuts to relevant health agencies, with some saying that scaled-back surveillance and limited staffing enabled not only the cyclospora spread but also other recent outbreaks like screwworm.
Last year, the CDC scaled back a decades-long federal-state partnership that monitors foodborne illnesses, including those caused by cyclospora. While Kennedy said the cuts were for “redundant” programs and called the criticism “invalid,” some experts have noted that the loss of surveillance infrastructure and data could risk delaying authorities’ ability to identify the source of an outbreak and stop further transmission, USA TODAY reported.
HHS did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Aug. 3.
