Americans issued salad warning as disease outbreak may have infected almost 7,000 | World | News

The spread of the parasitic stomach illness, Cyclosporiasis, has now been reported in 34 states.

A health alert issued by the CDC reported it had confirmed 1,645 people nationwide had suffered due to cyclosporiasis. A further 5,100 cases are under investigation.

The main symptom of the disease is watery and ‘explosive’ diarrhea that can last months if untreated, according to America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC said: “Along with state and federal partners, we are working together to investigate several outbreaks of cyclosporiasis. Investigations to identify and confirm the sources of the outbreaks are ongoing.”

The specific type of produce or supplier has not yet been identified, however, it is believed that lettuce or salad greens may be a potential source of this outbreak.

On July 14, 3,309 cases of the disease had been reported in Michigan alone. As of July 9, 44 of these cases in Michigan had been hospitalised.

No deaths have currently been reported 141 people have been hospitalised since May.

The CDC suspects that at least 400 of the cases across four states — Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia — are connected.

Due to the size of the outbreak, it is unlikely the spread has come from one grocer. Michigan’s chief medical executive, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian said: “We know that contamination usually occurs where the produce was grown or processed, and because distributors supply the same produce to multiple types of establishments, it’s unlikely for there to be one single place as the exposure for all of our cases.”

There has yet to be a recall or any sort of product, but Americans have been warned to avoid eating lettuce or green salad as the disease is investigated.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration launched an investigation.

The foodborne illness is caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora.

It can spread from human feces to products like lettuce through contaminated water or unsafe food handling.

Despite the lack of confirmation of the source of the disease, some restaurants have already taken action.

On Tuesday, Taco Bell Corp said it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”

The company added that there was no confirmation that the disease was linked to the restaurant chain.