By Siddhi Mahatole and Christy Santhosh
July 28 (Reuters) – Michigan health officials reported 9,680 cases of cyclosporiasis on Tuesday, an increase of 427 cases since their last update a day earlier, as the intestinal infection outbreak continues to grow.
The outbreak in Michigan has resulted in 160 hospitalizations as of July 23, according to the state’s health department. No deaths have been reported.
Cyclosporiasis, caused by the cyclospora parasite, can be contracted by consuming food — typically raw fruits and vegetables — or water contaminated with feces.
In a letter to federal health officials, Democratic U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday questioned whether recent Trump administration cuts to food-safety surveillance and laboratory funding had weakened the government’s ability to detect and respond to the nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak.
Gillibrand said the cuts had created “dangerous blind spots” in disease surveillance and asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA to respond by July 31 on how they planned to contain the current outbreak and monitor future ones.
FoodNet, a foodborne illness surveillance program run by the CDC, FDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture and 10 state health departments, stopped tracking six of eight pathogens, including Cyclospora, in July 2025 after funding cuts.
The senator requested details on how the agencies would track infections, prioritize outbreak investigations and address delays in detecting cases after cyclospora was removed from the program.
The latest outbreak has resulted in 4,173 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis in the U.S., while the CDC is aware of more than 7,400 additional cases that are not yet laboratory-confirmed.
Cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported in at least 41 states this year, though investigators have not determined how many are tied to Taylor Farms-supplied iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants.
Some large retailers and restaurants were also shunning produce from other growers in central Mexico over fears of broader contamination, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Monday.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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