GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Two people have died in the state of Michigan amid the Cyclosporiasis outbreak, and as cases continue to rise, many lawsuits are being filed against Taco Bell and Taylor Farms.
Watch Megan's report below
“We have never seen the scale and the scope of an outbreak quite like this," said Ryan Osterholm, an attorney at OFT Food & Safety Injury in Minneapolis.
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, there are over 11,000 cases as of Monday.
“Unfortunately, Michigan is the epicenter of this outbreak," Osterholm said.
Osterholm is representing multiple people who tested positive for the parasitic gastrointestinal infection.
"Several of the people we represent are gravely ill in the intensive care unit, in multi-system organ failure," Osterholm said.
Ryan tells me he has filed mutiple lawsuits for this outbreak already.
Brandon Rattray, from the Grand Rapids area, is one of Ryan's clients. His family stopped for a quick meal at Taco Bell in early July, then days later, he got extremely sick.
“Someone needs to stand up and take, take accountability. I mean, because all of this could have most likely have been prevented," Rattray said. “It was just isolation, stomach problems. Like the. Cramps, the bloating, it just it agonizing."
Luckily, Brandon is on the med. However, Michigan health officials say two people with underlying health conditions died.
“It's rotten because those are people who literally were just trying to get a meal, you know, a cost-effective meal. They could have been on lunch break or anything and it literally cost them their lives," Rattray said.
Dr. Ali Shuayto is on the front lines of this outbreak. He says we need to take this infection seriously.
“What happens is those that are very immunocompromised, those that have some form of autoimmune conditions, what happens is they get severely dry and they get really malnourished. They start losing a lot of electrolytes," Dr. Shuayto said. “I think just taking it very seriously, not chalking up everything to a GI bug.”
I did reach out to both Taco Bell and Taylor Farms for comments on these lawsuits, but I haven't heard back yet.
Related: Watch our live segment with Dr. Nandi on ways to avoid contracting Cyclosporiasis
