The CDC has confirmed 843 domestic cases of cyclosporiasis across 31 states as of July 9, up sharply from the 145 cases in 17 states the agency had reported as of June 16. Eighty-six people have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.
Health systems in Michigan and Ohio are seeing testing backlogs and case surges as a cyclosporiasis outbreak spreads across both states, according to a July 7 NBC News report. Those two states, along with New York and Illinois, are among the hardest hit by the illness.
Michigan’s health department has reported 992 total cyclosporiasis cases statewide as of July 8, up from 170 cases on June 30, according to its outbreak tracking page.
Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica Health System, which serves patients in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio, had recorded 411 cases as of July 6, Brian Kaminski, MD, the system’s vice president of medical affairs, told NBC. Dr. Kaminski said the cases in both states appear to be part of a single “epidemic cluster.”
Lab testing turnaround times have also slowed as demand climbs. “Turnaround time was initially about 24 hours, and we’re two to three days out now,” Dr. Kaminski told NBC. He added that if delays continue, physicians may need to begin treating patients based on symptoms alone rather than waiting on confirmatory test results.
At Trinity Health Ann Arbor, Anurag Malani, MD, vice chief of staff, said Michigan’s case count could reach 1,000 and that more cases are expected. Some patients have required hospitalization, often due to dehydration, Dr. Malani told NBC.
Matthew Sims, MD, director of infectious diseases research at Corewell Health in Royal Oak, Mich., told NBC it remains unclear whether the outbreaks across multiple states are connected or represent separate clusters.
The CDC said it is aware that states are likely to report higher case counts than what shows up in its own data and is working with states to update the numbers as more cases are confirmed. The agency is also tracking more than 1,500 additional reports that require further review to confirm domestic acquisition. Several states have reported more cases in the past two weeks than in the same period last year, and CDC expects counts to keep climbing given the roughly six-week lag between illness onset and when cases are reported to the agency.
Here are four things to know about the outbreak:
- Cyclosporiasis is caused by a parasite typically linked to contaminated fresh produce and does not spread person to person.
- It’s treated with antibiotics, commonly Bactrim, but can cause weeks of illness if untreated.
- No deaths have been reported nationally as of July 9, though 86 of the 843 confirmed U.S.-acquired cases have required hospitalization.
- The CDC scaled back mandatory cyclospora surveillance in July 2025 as part of reductions to its Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, and food safety experts have warned the change could make outbreaks harder to detect and track going forward.
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