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Michigan’s cyclosporiasis outbreak grows to more than 1,500 cases

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Michigan health officials say the state’s cyclosporiasis outbreak has grown to more than 1,500 cases. 

As of July 10, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has received 1,562 reports since June 22. Health officials say 44 people have been hospitalized. 

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a parasite that causes the diarrheal illness cyclosporiasis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the most common symptoms associated with the illness are frequent watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, bloating, nausea and fatigue. Some people may also experience body aches, headache or vomiting.  

The outbreak of the gastrointestinal illness was first reported in late June, after the Monroe County Health Department said it was investigating a cluster of cases. 

Most of the cases have been in Southeast Michigan, with multiple cases reported in Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Oakland, Shiawassee, Washtenaw and Wayne counties. As of July 9, cases have been confirmed in 40 counties, with Monroe County reporting the most, at 215. 

Michigan averages about 50 cases per year, according to MDHHS.    

According to the CDC, at least 31 states have reported cases since early May, including IllinoisNew York, and Texas.

MDHHS recently launched a cyclosporiasis outbreak webpage, where case counts are updated daily by 11 a.m. ET. The state will provide an update on hospitalization status and detailed outbreak data on Thursdays. 

What’s causing the outbreak?

Health officials are still working to determine the cause or causes of the recent burst in cases, whether that be a supplier, grower or type of produce.

According to MDHHS, previous outbreaks in the U.S. and Canada were linked to bagged salad mixes, fresh cilantro, fresh basil, raspberries, snow peas and scallions.

Considering the trends, state health officials recommend that restaurants and commercial kitchens in Southeast Michigan take additional precautions with fresh produce, including washing it under clean running water and cooking it when possible.

Tips to prevent cyclosporiasis

Health officials shared the following tips for avoiding the illness:

  • Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly, under running water, before cutting, cooking or eating.
  • Scrub firm fruits and vegetables, such as melons and cucumbers, with a produce brush when cleaning.
  • Cut away any damaged or bruised areas of produce before preparing and eating.
  • Refrigerate any cut, peeled or cooked produce within two hours of preparing it.

JD Vance and the Trump team keep moving the goalposts on Iran

(CNN) — One of the Trump administration’s biggest problems in extracting itself from the Iran war is the list of very absolutist goals that President Donald Trump and his team laid out.The goals have included complete Iranian surrender, regime change, Iran never getting a nuclear weapon and ending Tehran’s support for its Middle East proxy groups like Hezbollah.As the war — now in its sixth month — has dragged on, this list of goals has conspicuously shifted and been pared back. And Vice President JD Vance appears to have pared it back recently in a remarkable way, offering the latest indication that the administration might be preparing to settle for less — maybe even a lot less.Appearing on Fox News on Thursday, Vance was asked how the war might end. And he laid out two goals.“It’s ensuring that the Gulf countries continue to send oil and gas to the world economy so that we have energy price stability,” he said, adding: “That’s goal number one: Keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country.“And then, obviously, goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”This is not the administration’s old list of goals — and the order Vance placed them in is striking.When asked about Vance’s comments on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained that “both goals are equally as important to the president.”The administration has almost always characterized Iran never getting a nuclear weapon as the overriding concern.And even if the goals are truly equal in the administration’s mind, including oil and gas prices at all — and not other items — is a notable shift.In fact, Trump explicitly rejected this as a goal back in May. When asked if he considered Americans’ financial situation when trying to resolve the war, Trump responded, “Not even a little bit.” He signaled that denuclearization was so important that he didn’t factor in anything else.(Trump echoed that line on Friday, saying he would “never apologize” for Americans paying a little more for gas, given the stakes in Iran.)I wrote in March about how the administration frequently listed four goals for the war — but how the four goals frequently differed depending upon who was speaking.Some lists included ending funding for proxy groups, for example, while others did not. Some mentioned destroying Iran’s missile infrastructure, while others omitted that. Some mentioned getting rid of Iran’s air force and navy, but others only mentioned the navy.It was like the administration was workshopping the list in real time.But the key point here is that none of those lists included keeping oil and gas prices low in the United States.And given the Strait of Hormuz was open before the war started, that particular goal could just be read as a return to the pre-war status quo — with denuclearization being the only goal that would represent a new achievement.Indeed, the new emphasis on low gas prices from some in the administration seems like the latest sign of relaxing the goals to prepare for a conclusion to the war that comes up well shy of Trump’s initial aims.By May, it became clear the administration was no longer going to emphasize certain goals.By June, the Trump administration entered into a memorandum of understanding with Iran that barely mentioned previously central US goals.And for the last two-plus months, Trump has been saying things that sounded a lot like he might scale back his nuclear demands.While the administration previously emphasized Iran turning over its enriched uranium, Trump’s spoken about how perhaps enough damage was done to its nuclear program and its nuclear materials are buried too far underground to be accessed. The president has also talked about how the US government could simply monitor from space to make sure Iran didn’t try to retrieve them.He’s even claimed that Iran was already denuclearized.In other words, Trump sounded a lot like a guy who knew he might not be able to cow Iran into accepting a really restrictive nuclear deal.His administration talking about energy prices as “goal number one” — even if Trump isn’t — would fit neatly with this progression away from the hard-and-fast goals that the administration set out to achieve.If a return to the pre-war status quo really is “goal number one” right now, that says a lot about how little this war has accomplished.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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