Nearly 1,000 people in Michigan have been diagnosed with Cyclospora infections that can cause weeks of watery diarrhea, making it the largest such outbreak in state history and one of the nation's largest in years.
No deaths have been reported and the source of the parasitic infections hasn't been identified. Meanwhile, investigations into similar illnesses have been going on in 28 other states, including in Ohio, where people just across the Michigan border are also becoming sick.
Michigan officials first announced the outbreak last week, when they were aware of more than 170 cases -- all in the southeastern corner of the state -- since June 22. Michigan usually identifies only about 50 cases each year.
On Wednesday, the state reported the number had grown to 992, including about 40 hospitalizations. Just across the state line, Lucas County, Ohio, reported 306 cases as of Wednesday. Northwest Ohio has seen more than 400 cases.
Cyclospora surges can be tricky to investigate, and food poisoning sources can be hard to establish. But "there is clearly a linked outbreak happening right now," Natasha Bagdasarian, MD, Michigan's chief medical executive, told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
