Article #80975

Illness surging in Michigan and other US states is rarely life-threatening, CDC says – but it can have severe effects

• CDC investigates parasite that’s caused cases of ‘explosive’ diarrhea in 18 US states

Cases of cyclosporiasis – a parasitic illness that can cause “explosive”, watery diarrhea – have surged across the United States in recent days, health officials have said, with an abnormally large outbreak of almost 1,000 cases reported in Michigan.

Michigan typically reports about 50 cases a year, making the current outbreak the largest in the state’s history and one of the nation’s biggest in recent years. Ohio has also reported a sharp increase, with 177 cases as of 2 July, since the CDC’s last count.