You may want to be extra cautious with your fresh fruit and veggie platter this holiday weekend: An explosive diarrhea-causing parasite is behind a surge of summer food poisoning cases right before Independence Day.
Cyclosporiasis, a stomach-churning illness caused by a parasite often found on produce, has sickened hundreds across more than 17 U.S. states since May 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health data. One state, Michigan, is contending with a cluster of infections that has already more than tripled its total case count compared with 2025.
While state health authorities, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are working to determine a common thread among the illnesses, a singularly related outbreak hasn't been identified. Instead, the cases thus far appear to be part of a seasonal surge, though officials are searching for a potential throughline.
"CDC has no evidence of a single, multistate Cyclospora outbreak linking cases happening right now and being reported in press," the agency said in a June 2 statement to USA TODAY. "The data currently found on CDC's website is a surveillance count of cases across the United States of people with cyclosporiasis. This number includes clusters of cases currently under investigation by FDA and cases that have not been linked to a common source."
Here's what to know about avoiding the parasitic infection while picnicking this Fourth of July and beyond, including where it's been detected so far.
Cyclosporiasis, a stomach-churning illness caused by a parasite often found on produce, has sickened hundreds across more than 17 U.S. states since May 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health data. One state, Michigan, is contending with a cluster of infections that has already more than tripled its total case count compared with 2025.
While state health authorities, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are working to determine a common thread among the illnesses, a singularly related outbreak hasn't been identified. Instead, the cases thus far appear to be part of a seasonal surge, though officials are searching for a potential throughline.
"CDC has no evidence of a single, multistate Cyclospora outbreak linking cases happening right now and being reported in press," the agency said in a June 2 statement to USA TODAY. "The data currently found on CDC's website is a surveillance count of cases across the United States of people with cyclosporiasis. This number includes clusters of cases currently under investigation by FDA and cases that have not been linked to a common source."
Here's what to know about avoiding the parasitic infection while picnicking this Fourth of July and beyond, including where it's been detected so far.
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