Reported cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan pass 8,000

Anne Snabes, The Detroit News on Jul 24, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DETROIT — The number of reported cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan rose to 8,176 on Friday, a 6.7% increase over the previous day's case count.

Health officials continue to investigate the state's worst outbreak of the parasitic illness that usually causes frequent, watery and explosive diarrhea. As of Thursday, 160 people have reportedly been hospitalized, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The department reported 512 new cases on Friday. MDHHS data as of Thursday shows that the number of cases of cyclosporiasis reported each day to MDHHS hit a peak on July 13, with 726 cases.

Cases have been reported in 70 of Michigan's 82 counties as of Thursday, according to the state health department. The largest numbers are in Wayne County with 1,036 cases, Washtenaw County with 773, Oakland County with 710 and Ingham County with 698.

Dr. Teena Chopra, professor of internal medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Wayne State University School of Medicine, said the epidemic curve seems to "plateau." But people can't say cases are decreasing, she said, because of reporting delays and the fact the disease has a prolonged incubation period. MDHHS has said the time between being exposed and becoming sick is usually about a week but can range from two days to more than two weeks.

Chopra said it's important to not "over-interpret" the data.

"But overall, the curve seems to flatten a bit and hopefully it should go on a downward slope in the next few weeks," she said in an email.

Outbreak spreads across U.S.

A new Washington Post report says that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked four additional states to a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak traced to shredded iceberg lettuce from central Mexico, according to two individuals familiar with the investigation who spoke to The Post.

The newly linked states include Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, and they join Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, according to The Post.

Chopra said last week that the size of the outbreak is "unprecedented."

"We haven't seen it before," she said, referring to the U.S. "We do see cases every year, but not this magnitude. So this is definitely way beyond the numbers we've ever seen before."

Chopra argued that water contaminated with human stool. being used to irrigate produce is the cause of the outbreak.

------------