Health officials in Michigan confirmed two people have died in connection with the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak that's impacted Americans nationwide.
Michigan, which has led the U.S. case count, reported 11,234 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis and the two resulting deaths on Monday, Aug. 3. The state's health department noted that both patients had "significant underlying health conditions" that may have been affected by the illness and resulting dehydration.
Health officials didn't immediately provide further information about the deceased. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet released a statement, but a banner atop its cyclospora tracking page on Aug. 3 read, "CDC is aware of two cyclosporiasis-related deaths in people
with underlying health conditions from Michigan as part of this outbreak."
Cyclosporasis is not generally considered deadly, though it can cause serious disease in certain at-risk people. In fact, death from the infection is "uncommon" in the United States, said state health officials.
Ohio and Michigan have led the charge in reporting confirmed cyclosporiasis cases, reporting numbers that well outpace federal totals. This is because cases tracked by the CDC are updated weekly and only reported if they have been laboratory-confirmed, occurred since May 1, and cleared several other hurdles to be added to the nationwide count. CDC numbers tend to experience a six-week lag, according to the agency.
The latest CDC update on July 28 reported 6,707 laboratory-confirmed cases of the illness across 45 states since May 1, a more than 2,500 increase since its last report on July 21. Thousands of other suspected cases have not yet been confirmed by laboratories.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: First 2 deaths reported in cyclospora outbreak
