By Mariam Sunny
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Michigan's health department on Thursday reported 14,277 cases linked to a cyclosporiasis outbreak, up 368 or about 3% from a week earlier, with the slower pace of increase pointing to signs that the outbreak could be starting to ease.
The department previously said the increase largely reflected a backlog in processing reports and that new cases were slowing.
Michigan has been the state hardest hit by the multistate outbreak of the parasitic illness, reporting two
related deaths, both in people with significant underlying health conditions.
"The outbreak does seem to have peaked and now slowed down in terms of new cases. The peak of 3,585 (reported on week through July 12) is almost 19 times higher than the last reported week, so that is a big drop," said Jeffrey Griffiths, professor of public health and medicine, Tufts University.
The drop in cases in Michigan could be because the food that is the vector for the infection has all been eaten, or removed from markets, or aged out, Griffiths added.
The recent cyclosporiasis outbreak, among the largest foodborne illness events in recent U.S. history, is linked to iceberg lettuce. The illness can lead to diarrhea, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.
The outbreak has shaken U.S. consumer confidence, with many forgoing eating fresh produce or dining out at restaurants.
Weekly foot traffic at U.S. Taco Bell stores was down 4.5% last week after dipping nearly 20% in the middle of last month, from the weekly average for the first half of the year, according to research firm Placer.ai.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tried to assure consumers that they could resume eating fresh produce, adding that it is confident all iceberg lettuce linked to the outbreak has been removed from the market.
The disease is challenging to trace because it has a two-week incubation period and, unlike many other foodborne pathogens, cannot be identified using the most advanced genetic testing methods.
Within Michigan, Wayne County had the highest number of cases at 2,029, followed by Oakland County with 1,499. The 30-to-39 year age group accounted for the highest number of infections, with 2,879 cases.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said as of Thursday, the total number of cases associated with the 17-state outbreak linked to lettuce is 10,930, with 454 hospitalizations.
States may individually report higher case counts than the CDC as they may include cases that do not meet the agency's formal reporting criteria.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Sneha S K, Neil J. Kanatt, in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Diti Pujara)
