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Two people have died in Michigan as a result of the cyclosporiasis outbreak, the state’s health department reported Monday. The deaths — apparently the first in the multi-state outbreak — come as cases in the Great Lakes State top 11,000 infections.
Both people had “significant underlying health conditions” that could have been affected by cyclosporiasis and the symptoms that accompany the illness, the health department said.
“Cyclosporiasis is generally not a life-threatening illness,” the department said in a press release. “Death resulting from cyclosporiasis is uncommon in the United States.”
The outbreak is believed to stem from iceberg lettuce grown by Taylor Farms, which Taco Bell used in its products. But a false positive test of the company’s lettuce that the Food and Drug Administration reviewed has complicated investigators’ efforts to locate a source.
The produce company has since issued a recall of all iceberg lettuce from its central Mexico farm, which was distributed between June 29 and July 16 in 27 states.
The department said it would provide no further public information on the deaths. Statewide, Michigan had recorded 11,234 cases as of Monday, with 193 reported hospitalizations.
Neither of the two deaths has been logged in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s outbreak page. Nationwide, there were 6,707 lab-confirmed cases with 423 hospitalizations across nearly the entire nation, as of July 27.
The only states in which cases have not been reported are Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Mexico and South Carolina. Weeks into the outbreak, Michigan and Ohio are still considered the epicenters. According to the Ohio Department of Health, the state has 4,087 cases.
Michigan’s top doctor, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, previously told Straight Arrow that the illness responds well to antibiotics and has people feeling better within two days. She added that if anyone believes their produce is infected, they could either cook it or trash it, as washing will not remove the parasite.
Bagdasarian said that the aggressive spread of cyclosporiasis and other outbreaks are likely a result of cuts made to public health in 2024 and 2025.
“This is a complicated outbreak,” Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s center for infectious disease research, wrote on X in July, referencing the cyclosporiasis outbreak. There’s no question about that.”
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