By Siddhi Mahatole
July 27 (Reuters) – Michigan health officials reported 9,253 cases of cyclosporiasis on Monday, an increase of 1,077 cases since their last update on Friday, as the intestinal infection outbreak grows.
The outbreak in Michigan has resulted in 160 hospitalizations, according to the state’s health department. No deaths have been reported.
Nationwide, the outbreak has led to 4,173 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is aware of more than 7,400 more cases that have not yet been lab-confirmed, many of them in Michigan and Ohio.
The U.S. FDA and the CDC are widening their investigation into the outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce from central Mexico after identifying cases in four additional states.
The outbreak has also drawn scrutiny from lawmakers. U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a letter on Monday he had launched an inquiry into Taylor Farms’ role in the outbreak and whether the company attempted to influence the FDA’s response.
“Taylor Farms donated millions to President Trump, met privately with the White House the night the FDA identified their lettuce as the source of this outbreak, and then reportedly tried to distance themselves from this outbreak,” Garcia said.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Taylor Farms representatives had asked the White House to delay announcing a recall linked to the cyclospora outbreak that has sickened thousands of people across the U.S.
Responding to Reuters, the Department of Health and Human Services said, “Once FDA had a high degree of confidence that the outbreak was linked to Taylor Farms products, the agency engaged directly with the company and presented substantial evidence supporting the need for a public health action.”
The department said after discussions with FDA, Taylor Farms voluntarily agreed to remove the affected products from the market.
The outbreak includes cases from nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the FDA said on Friday.
Cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported in at least 41 states this year, though investigators are working to determine how many cases are linked to the outbreak tied to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and served at Taco Bell restaurants.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Arun Koyyur)
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