Michigan health officials announced Monday that the state has recorded 9,253 cases of cyclosporiasis in an ongoing outbreak — a jump of 1,077 cases from the previous update issued just three days earlier on Friday. The state health department confirmed that 160 people have been hospitalized, though no fatalities have been reported.
Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by the cyclospora parasite. People can become infected by eating food — most commonly raw fruits and vegetables — or drinking water that has been contaminated with feces.
Across the United States, 4,173 cases have been confirmed through laboratory testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also tracking more than 7,400 additional cases that have not yet been lab-confirmed, with a large portion of those concentrated in Michigan and Ohio.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC have broadened their investigation into the outbreak, which has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce originating from central Mexico. After identifying cases in four more states, the outbreak now spans nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
The FDA reported that a total of 1,947 people infected with the cyclospora parasite had exposure to Taco Bell, based on epidemiological data gathered by the CDC across those nine states.
Cyclosporiasis cases have been reported in at least 41 states so far this year. Investigators are continuing to determine how many of those cases are specifically tied to the outbreak connected to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and served at Taco Bell locations.
