PA Cyclosporiasis Cases Rapidly Increasing

Cyclosporiasis cases are rapidly rising around the country days after the CDC officially declared an outbreak in Pennsylvania and several other nearby states.

The total in Pennsylvania has increased to a laboratory-confirmed number between 50 and 199 since May 1, according to the latest CDC data Friday. The Department of Health has the exact number at 79, a spokesperson told Patch.

The actual numbers are much higher, authorities say, as symptoms can take days to show up and reporting lags behind confirmed cases. Numbers from just a few county health departments that have made public announcements have already reported more than 100 cases.

Erie County alone has 75 cases, GoErie reports. At least 13 have been confirmed in Philadelphia, according to the city, with 14 more around the rest of southeastern Pennsylvania, 2 in the northeast, 1 in the northwest, and 35 in Allegheny County.

Numbers have shot up since last week, when case totals in the state were at 45, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The state added last week that "case counts are expected to increase in the coming days and weeks."

There are around 18,000 suspected cases across 47 different states since outbreaks intensified around May 1, officials estimate, though the CDC's admittedly lagging numbers have only confirmed 6,707 of those cases in a laboratory.

Michigan is reporting the highest number of outbreaks in the nation, state’s health officials there said, with 10,773 illnesses and 193 hospitalizations.

The investigation

Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma were added to the CDC's "outbreak" classification last Friday, July 24. That list already included Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Indiana, states which have been the focal point of cases thus far.

The recall on iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms in Mexico remains in place, despite a false positive on a test earlier this week. Traceback data from cases connects this outbreak to that source, the CDC said.

Taco Bell has since removed the affected lettuce from its local restaurants and national supply chain, and Taylor Farms has issued a nationwide recall of iceberg lettuce sourced from Mexico. Sysco, the nation’s largest food distributor, withdrew all Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce from Mexico at ​the supplier's request.

Find the complete list of affected products, as well as lot codes and use-by dates, here.

Symptoms and what you can do

Diarrhea from the parasite can be explosive and long-lasting. It can lead to hospitalizations if symptoms are severe.

Cyclosporiasis infections most often occur when people consume food or water contaminated with feces. The cyclospora parasite is commonly transmitted through contaminated produce.

While lettuce is at the center of the current investigation, no single brand or product has been blamed for all cases. Raspberries, basil, cilantro, snow peas and mesclun lettuce have been linked to previous cyclosporiasis outbreaks — notably one in 1997 that sickened 1,000 people in North America linked to Guatemalan raspberries and a 2019 outbreak linked to Mexican basil that sickened more than 2,400.

With reporting from Patch correspondents Tiffany Razzano and Ryan Phillips.