(WWJ) Two people who contracted cyclosporiasis in Michigan have died.
In an update issued Monday morning, the Michigan health department Monday morning said the two people who died had "severe underlying health issues" while also suffering from dehydration associated with the stomach parasite, which contributed to their deaths.
Officials say cyclosporiasis is generally not a life-threatening illness, and that deaths caused by the illness is still extremely rare in the U.S.
Dr. Joel Kammeyer, the Division Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Detroit Medical Center, said that while two deaths linked to the outbreak may sound scary, he stressed that these people were dealing with multiple medical problems at the same time, and were "very medically fragile patients."
"The facts are that for most patients what have this, this isn't going to be a prolonged illness that requires hospitalization," he said.
Where do the numbers stand?
- 2 deaths now linked to the outbreak in Michigan
- In total, more than 11,000 cases and 193 hospitalizations have now been reported in Michigan, with many more cases under investigation in other states.
- The age group of people most affected in our state are ages of 20 to 39, the health department said.
- The parasite has been found the most in Wayne, Oakland and Washtenaw counties.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has linked Taylor Farms’ iceberg lettuce to the cyclosporiasis outbreak and some lettuce has been recalled. [Get recall info here].
Cases involving Taco Bell have been reported from nine states. including Michigan.
People who buy salad are encouraged to buy heads of lettuce rather than lettuce in bags.
But wasn't there some doubt/confusion as to whether or not lettuce is the culprit?
WWJ's Amanda Forrester asked Dr. Kammeyer.
"It still seems that all signals are pointing to an outbreak with lettuce, or possibly multiple original outbreaks with lettuce," Kammeyer said. "Which is to say, at the source of our food chain, it might actually be different lines of lettuce that have been infected with cyclospora. And so it really does seem that this is the target, and this is where the epidemiolocal focus has really kind of been trained."
Kammeyer said that other types of produce are generally considered safe, just talking about this particular outbreak, although other vegetables have been the culprit in other outbreaks. He encourages the following.
Continued best practices to keep in mind:
- If you do eat lettuce, peel off and discard the outer layer.
- Wash lettuce and all produce before you eat it.
- Cut off and discard any bruised areas on all fruits and vegetables.
- Cook produce when you can.
The primary symptom of cyclospora exposure is sudden and frequent watery diarrhea. Anyone experiencing gastrointestinal illness is encouraged to call their doctor for testing and treatment.
Get more information about the outbreak from the CDC at this link.
