Michigan has confirmed the first deaths linked to the US’ ongoing outbreak of a diarrhea bug caused by the cyclospora parasite.
On Monday, Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services announced that “two deaths have been identified as part of the cyclosporiasis outbreak affecting Michigan.”
“According to medical records, both individuals had significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis and dehydration,” the agency said in a statement. “Cyclosporiasis is generally not a life-threatening illness.”
Thousands of people across the US have fallen sick this summer with the lingering watery diarrhea that is a hallmark of the parasitic infection. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has logged at least 6,707 laboratory-confirmed cases nationwide, but that is likely a vast undercount. Case counts have been particularly high in several states across the Midwest — including Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky, and are likely linked to contaminated lettuce sourced from central Mexico.
Most people recover from cyclosporiasis within a few weeks, but the illness can relapse, and take over a month to resolve. Antibiotics can help clear the infection faster.
Dr. Tyler Evans, an infectious disease expert and co-founder of the Wellness Equity Alliance, said that “cyclosporiasis is famously an opportunistic infection,” especially for people with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV.
He remembers in the late 90s and early 2000s when his patients with AIDS would develop wasting, dehydration, and were routinely killed by the parasite.
“Older adults or people with a lot of chronic illnesses, they can dehydrate very easily and they don’t sometimes perceive it, which makes it that much more dangerous,” he recently told Business Insider.
The outbreak has been linked to lettuce sourced in central Mexico, but dwindling case counts in affected states now suggest the outbreak may be curtailing.
