White House Says It Has ‘Handle' On Cyclosporiasis Outbreak—While Urging Precautions

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Topline

The Trump administration has a “handle” on the cyclosporiasis outbreak, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday, though she acknowledged an “unusually high number of cases” this year and encouraged basic precautions.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing on Thursday.

Photo by Mehmet Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images

Key Facts

Leavitt said the White House "has a handle on the situation" and denied that leadership vacancies or funding cuts had slowed the response, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration "have the resources they need," as she urged Americans to follow CDC guidance on washing and cooking raw produce to prevent infection.

The CDC confirmed 1,645 cases across 34 states as of Tuesday and is investigating roughly 5,100 additional possible cases, according to its latest data.

Federal, state and local partners are working to "trace the outbreak back to its original source," Leavitt said, though she did not disclose whether federal officials are physically on the ground at farms or production facilities.

At least 141 people have been hospitalized since cases of cyclosporiasis were first reported in May, but no deaths have been recorded.

Big Number

Over 4,300. That is the number of cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan, according to state health officials, who reported an additional 600 cases Thursday. Washtenaw County and Wayne County are the hardest-hit areas of the Michigan outbreak, with the latter country accounting for 582 cases.

Key Background

Cyclospora, the parasite that causes cyclosporiasis, was removed from a list of pathogens that were required to be monitored by 10 states participating in the CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network program. Experts have voiced concerns the scaled down program would make tracking and identifying foodborne illnesses harder. The cause for this year’s cyclosporiasis outbreak has not yet been identified by state or federal officials, though a preliminary investigation from Michigan’s state health department suggests “lettuce or salad greens” may be the source, though there is not yet a “definite product identified as the source of the outbreak,” Michigan’s chief medical executive Natasha Bagdasarian said. Michigan is the epicenter of the ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis, which can cause “explosive” diarrhea.