(WXYZ) — More than a week has passed since Taylor Farms recalled contaminated iceberg lettuce linked to the Cyclospora outbreak. Now, health officials say they’re seeing promising signs that cases in Michigan may finally be slowing down.
There are several encouraging signs. First, state health officials say the recent jump in numbers doesn’t necessarily mean a surge in new cases. About 475 of the cases added since Friday were actually delayed lab reports that were only just reported.
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Also we’re seeing fewer emergency department visits for diarrhea, one of the main symptoms of Cyclospora. Another encouraging sign is that lab positivity rates are beginning to fall. That means a smaller percentage of people being tested are actually coming back positive.
Now, none of this means the outbreak is over. In fact, some Michigan hospitals have been limiting testing. With more than 10,000 cases and 160 hospitalizations, this has been one of the largest Cyclospora outbreaks Michigan has ever seen. So, some health systems not only have a backlog of cases but are also running out of testing supplies. Because of that, they’ve limited testing to patients who are very sick or have weakened immune systems. So many milder cases may not be getting tested or counted.
That said, I think these trends are encouraging and suggest that we may finally be turning a corner.
It’s possible we’ll see a national decline in the coming weeks. With the largest outbreak linked to contaminated lettuce, it should gradually work its way out of the food supply soon since lettuce has a short shelf life.
That said, health officials are still investigating several other outbreaks around the country. They may involve different foods, like cilantro and parsley. Another possibility is that contaminated irrigation or processing water may be involved. If that’s the case, it can continue to spread the parasite to new crops and new batches of produce. We unfortunately still have a lot of unanswered questions.
In the meantime, residents should continue washing fresh produce under running water, removing the outer leaves of lettuce when possible and cooking when appropriate.
And remember: if you develop persistent watery diarrhea, don’t ignore it. Reach out to your doctor because Cyclospora is treatable with the right antibiotic.
