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ALPENA -- District Health Department No. 4 Health Director (DHD4) Joshua Meyerson gave health board members a recap on this past summer's cyclosporiasis outbreak. He said that Northeast Michigan was more disproportionately affected than other regions in the state and in the country.
He noted that Alpena had "one of the" highest case rates per population in the state and in the nation.
"Our biggest counties had the highest number of cases," Meyerson said. "That makes sense. But the highest case rates, I thought this was interesting. We look at cases per population or in small counties, and Alpena had one of the highest rates in the state or anywhere in the country."
According to Meyerson, the nationwide outbreak of cyclosporiasis this summer was widespread and caused significant illness, especially in Michigan. The illness is caused by the Cyclospora parasite, and symptoms usually develop two to 14 days after exposure and leads to prolonged diarrhea along with nausea, abdominal cramps, fatigue, and weight loss.
"Without treatment symptoms can last for several weeks but will be shortened by prompt treatment with an antibiotic," he said.
Meyerson explained that the investigation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) linked the outbreak to processed iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico that was contaminated. The company recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17. The product was sold in retail outlets including WalMart as well as used in restaurants. Most exposures occurred in late June to mid-July.
Meyerson's report noted that the last update for the outbreak was on Sept. 6, and Michigan had reported 14,718 cases; 373 were hospitalized and there were two reported deaths. Wayne, Oakland, and Washtenaw counties reported the highest number of cases, but the highest case rates were in smaller counties including Alpena.
In the jurisdiction of the Health Department of Northwest Michigan - which serves Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, and Otsego Counties - 18 cases were reported. The Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department - which serves Benzie and Leelanau counties, reported five cases. DHD4 - which serves Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan counties -- reported 187 cases.
In total, 165 cases were reported in Alpena.
At the meeting on Tuesday, Meyerson explained that the high case rates in the DHD4 coverage area were likely a result of the food chain supply and the effectiveness of testing and the communicable disease detection processes in Michigan.
"I think Michigan had the most cases because we had very active case finding, very good laboratories, state labs," he said. "I think, simply, (we) identified more cases, perhaps, than other states, but certainly we were really affected here."
He explained that the process of testing food for contaminants is up to the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He said that those processes can be slower.
"Sometimes it can be hard to figure out," he added. "That took, it’s a challenging thing to figure out, but that took maybe longer than I would have liked, or any of us."
Meyerson said his takeaway from the outbreak is how easy communities can get sick from contaminated food.
"This can show you the way our food chain is here and how we consume food, how many people can get sick when things aren’t ... when there’s a slip up in any part of that food distribution network, that allows contamination to happen," he said.
Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.
Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This is a table of cyclosporiasis cases by state.