US Parasite Outbreak Reaches 2,800 Cases

A growing outbreak of a parasitic infection called cyclosporiasis has now reached more than 2,800 cases across the United States. The illness, which causes watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, and weight loss, is creating a difficult challenge for health officials as they work to identify the source of the spread. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 843 confirmed cases and 1,500 suspected cases across 31 states, state-level data suggests the situation is much more serious.

Michigan appears to be the most affected area, with state health officials reporting 2,640 cases. Meanwhile, officials in Ohio have reported 177 cases. Despite these high numbers, experts have not yet identified a specific food item or location that caused the outbreak. Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the chief medical executive in Michigan, told the Associated Press that there is clearly a linked outbreak happening right now, even though the exact source remains unknown.

Investigating this type of illness is naturally difficult. Cyclospora has a two-week incubation period — the time between catching the germ and feeling sick. Furthermore, the CDC usually expects a six-week delay between when a person gets sick and when the case is officially reported. To find the source, epidemiologists — scientists who study how diseases spread — must interview patients to ask what they ate. Because of the long delay, many people struggle to remember their meals from weeks earlier, making it hard to find common links between victims.

Many experts believe that these typical investigation delays are being made worse by recent government decisions. Barbara Kowalcyk, an associate professor at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health, explained that public health departments are currently struggling with limited resources. In March 2025, the Trump administration cut $11.4 billion in grants that were previously given to state and local health departments. According to Bridge Michigan, a local news outlet, Michigan’s public health labs alone lost $5.5 million in funding.

Kowalcyk compared the current situation to a puzzle. She noted that when you take pieces out of a puzzle, it becomes much harder to see the whole picture. She believes that because health departments are now understaffed, they may be forced to interview patients much later than usual, sometimes six to eight weeks after they first became ill. This makes it nearly impossible to gather accurate information. She argued that the funding cuts have directly impacted the ability of local departments to scale up their work during an emergency.

While the CDC reports that 86 people have been hospitalized, there have been no deaths reported so far. However, the agency expects the total number of cases to keep rising as more reports come in from across the country. The difficulty in tracking the outbreak is a major concern for those working in food safety. As Kowalcyk explained, many staff members in local departments are funded by several different sources; when one source of money is removed, departments often have to reduce their staff or move people to part-time roles, leaving them with few choices on how to respond to a crisis.

For now, health officials are focusing on prevention. The Michigan health department is advising restaurants and commercial kitchens in the south-east to be extra careful. They are urging staff to thoroughly wash leafy greens, snow peas, certain herbs, and raspberries. If possible, they recommend cooking these items, as heat is an effective way to kill the parasite.

As the investigation continues, the gap between the CDC’s official numbers and the reports from state health departments highlights the ongoing struggle to monitor foodborne illnesses. With limited staff and a long reporting delay, finding the source of this outbreak will remain a difficult task for health authorities in the coming weeks. For the public, the best defense remains careful food preparation and staying informed as new updates become available from local health agencies.