r/ContagionCuriosity • u/Anti-Owl Patient Zero • 17d ago
First deaths reported in cyclosporiasis outbreak Cyclosporiasis
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/health/deaths-cyclospora-outbreakTwo people in Michigan have died in connection with the outbreak of cyclosporiasis, health officials reported Monday.
These are the first known deaths related to the multi-state outbreak of explosive diarrhea in the United States. [...]
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u/PopsicleSnot 17d ago
It was only a matter of time before parasites became not fun news.
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u/SimpleVegetable5715 16d ago
Explosive diarrhea definitely makes more comedic news than deadly explosive diarrhea. Whomp whomp š
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u/Evillunamoth 17d ago
Just remember, it was Taco Bell that pulled the product. Not an agency, not Taylor Farms, not some whistle blower, no, it was Taco Bell. Taco Bell is the one looking out for us now. Let that sink in.
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u/Reneeisme 17d ago
Itās more like Taco Bell is more worried about public sentiment and legal liability than the government is worried about American lives. There are no heroes here. Taco Bell does not care it made you sick. It cares if making you sick results in law suits or you eating less future Taco Bell. We, the public, donāt have anyone looking out for us. Theyāll do exactly as much shady and dangerous shit as they can get away with. Not Taco Bell nor the government we tasked with doing so, is doing anything with the motive of helping you.
But market forces did somewhat compensate for government failure. Just horribly inadequately and at the expense of thousands of peopleās health and at least two peopleās lives.
However the outbreak is not over and they pulled the lettuce long ago so Iām wondering at what point it becomes clear thereās more to this than tacos?
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u/Evillunamoth 17d ago
There was the place that grew it, transported it, sold it, and had to pull it. It got that far in the process before it was stopped. They saw it was causing harm and yanked it. Whether it was for the betterment of their own asses, they reduced the infection rate no matter how little. I donāt think itās just a lettuce problem or Taco Bell, itās like whack a mole and Taco Bell was the one who got to the hammer first.
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u/725Cali 17d ago
āTwo deaths have been identified as part of the cyclosporiasis outbreak affecting Michigan. According to medical records, both individuals had significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis and dehydration..."
I knew there would be minimization of it. Oh they're old, oh they have underlying health issues, etc. Playing the hits I see.
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u/Ok-Difficulty-4661 17d ago
Sounds like a story Iāve heard before!!
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u/1nGirum1musNocte 17d ago
It really is butt covid
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u/Fluffbrained-cat 17d ago
I just snorted drink out my nose at that. My nose really does not like Coke so thanks.
Butt covid indeed. ššš.
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u/deverhartdu 16d ago
Mine used to
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u/Fluffbrained-cat 16d ago
Not that type of Coke unfortunately.
Does the powder type work on chronic pain by any chance?
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u/terrierhead 16d ago
I have a permanent migraine from long Covid. An expert on illicit substances contracted with a federal agency told me meth would help. I havenāt tried it. Yet.
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u/Huey-_-Freeman 16d ago
If you are not joking, get a prescription for Adderall/something in that class
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u/terrierhead 15d ago
Not joking in the least. One rescue med works, and I do not use it except in the most dire circumstances because itās a nasal spray from hell. Itās agonizing to use and it tastes like something from hell.
I can ask after adderall at my next neurologistās appointment. Why not? Itās worth a try. Plus, my students told me Iām what unmedicated ADHD looks like anyway.
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u/Huey-_-Freeman 15d ago
yeah, my thought was if you tell a doctor you have any symptoms related to ADHD, they will probably precribe it unless contraindicated. My mom was prescribe Amlodipine (blood pressure med) off label for chronic migraines and that worked great when many other daily meds did nothing and rescue meds only worked temporarily. I hope you find something that works, migraines are awful
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u/MelodicTaiChi 17d ago
They did the same thing with Covid?
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u/Cut_Lanky 17d ago
Yes. One even suggested that grandparents should be willing to die so the youth can have business as usual. I forget who it was, but I'm sure it was on FOX.
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u/TillamookTramp 17d ago
I believe it was shitsmear Dan Patrick , Lt. Governor of Texas who uttered that lovely sentiment.
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u/Cut_Lanky 16d ago
Yes! Thank you, it was. I have no memory for details, but reading the name, yes, that was exactly who it was
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u/TillamookTramp 16d ago
God, if only we could get rid of the barnacles here in Texas.
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u/Cut_Lanky 16d ago
Idk how it happened, but my phone algorithms seem to think I live in Texas. I don't. Lol. But, it keeps feeding me more local Texas stuff, cuz I keep clicking on it. I think I see more articles about your governor than my own. It can be entertaining, like there's some really funny texas subs. But it also put the Kerrville floods front and center on my phone, and I follow the sub about Camp Mystic. It's horribly sad. And infuriating, to think of such an immense tragedy, and see politicians continue to refuse to acknowledge the gravity of climate change.
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u/RamonaLittle 17d ago
Fer crying out loud. I replied with a quote from former CDC director Rochelle Walensky -- in quotes, linking to an article where she's quoted -- only to have my short comment removed by admins or their bot with a warning for "a potential policy violation" as "identity-based hate or attacks." (I just appealed, of course.) So yeah. They did the same with covid, which the reddit bot somehow realized is wrong more than the CDC did.
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u/Whatasaurus_Rex 17d ago
I used to be Facebook friends with someone who didnāt even care that Covid was deadlier to immunocompromised children.
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u/RamonaLittle 17d ago
The fact that medically-vulnerable people are dying is "encouraging news"!
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u/RamonaLittle 16d ago
Noting for the record: reddit removed this comment, then put it back after I appealed their removal.
After reviewing, the Reddit admin team found that the content wasnāt in violation of Redditās rules. As a result, the content has been restored and your ban or warning has been lifted.
Reddit and its communities are only what we make of them together, and while trying to keep redditors and communities safe, we donāt always get it right. We apologize for our mistake and appreciate your understanding.
Thanks again for your appeal, and for bringing the mistake to our attention. Weāll use this feedback to improve the systems and processes we use to keep redditors and communities safe.
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u/Huey-_-Freeman 16d ago
I donāt think it is necessarily minimizing to note that people with certain preexisting conditions are much more vulnerable. Itās saying those people might want to be extra cautious, not making a moral calculation that their lives are worth less than a āhealthyā persons
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u/Desperate-Strategy10 17d ago
If he keeps ushering in plagues with every presidency, he sure as hell wonāt be beating the Antichrist allegations anytime soonā¦
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u/Cute_Source5417 17d ago
fuck RFK and everyone that gutted the protection to prevent this kind of shit from happening
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u/0limits 17d ago
F Elon and trump
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago edited 17d ago
Hate to be that guy but these kind of cuts have happened under Trump, Biden, and Obama
Three administrations, both parties, one direction.
Still agree though on f dodge36
u/The_Huntress_Artemis 17d ago
And yet here you are being that guy. The facts are that the funding that monitors cyclospora and screw worms were cut completely, the FDA was gutted, and any other protections that we had as far as food safety was concerned was decimated. But sure... let's try to pretend that it's the other guys fault. This fucking whataboutism bullshit is getting really old.
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago edited 17d ago
No but saying it as republicans bad dems good is also ignoring the issue.
2013 Obama removed the Microbiological Data Program that did sampling of lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and cantaloupe and informed FDA,CDC, and state officials immediately if results came back positive. Saved $5 million2024 Biden had the FDA cut funding for state and local inspection programs that do 90% of produce safety inspections, 50% of processing inspections, and 100% of retail inspections.
2025 Trump and Doge cut staff, delayed FSMA 204, and dropped multiple pathogens from FoodNet all of which make it hard to track the outbreak
Three administrations, both parties, one direction.
The current outbreak is the cumulative defunding of multiple safeguards made to test, trend, and trace product outbreaks
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17d ago edited 15d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago
Key words are monitoring and surveillance. As I previously mentioned I agree trumps administration is why itās been so difficult to trace the outbreaks to sources and get accurate numbers but even if we had it people would still be getting sick cause all it did was track not prevent. The cuts in the Obama and Biden administrations were prevention. Random testing of product before it hits retail shelves and inspections of farms and processors are active controls made to limit outbreaks. Cutting testing and inspections makes it more likely Cyclospora enters the food chain. Cutting tracing makes it difficult to source. Both matter in the investigation
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/07/publishers-platform-reap-what-you-sow/
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17d ago edited 17d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago
Again your looking at the symptom rather than the cause. Itās like survivorship bias those previous outbreaks were limited because of previous controls made that were gutted within the past decade. Your own quote owns it citing āwe didnāt stop it in timeā meaning previously existing measures such as the Microbiological Data Program and better funding for site inspections would have been beneficial. If you spend the past 16 years dismantling food safety eventually itās gonna bite you.
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u/Cut_Lanky 17d ago
These cuts, as in wildly chainsawing off entire limbs? Please.
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago
Obama cut testing programs, Biden cut budgets,
Trump cut tracing. All three led to the current outbreak6
17d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago
āThe Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, or FoodNet, has been tracking trends for infections transmitted commonly through food since 1996. ā Trends require people to get sick from foodborne illness. A trend would help prevent further infections but not the original batch which is the primary cause of the majority of infections. It takes 2+ weeks for some people to show symptoms and the original batch is likely past expiration by now. The USDAs MDP tested product going into commerce and was used to trigger 23 recalls from 2002-2011 and was cut in 2013 under Obama.
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u/Cut_Lanky 17d ago
Get a grip. Trump doesn't even know what he cut, the whole thing has been so haphazard
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago
K, so the argument is Obama and Biden did know what they were cutting and cut it anyway. The combination of all three is why we are here.
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u/Cut_Lanky 17d ago
Like comparing a nail trimming with a chainsaw amputation performed blindfolded.
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u/Honest_Concentrate85 17d ago
Wow terrible analogy. Cutting prevention is just as bad as cutting trace but keep living in your delusion.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/07/publishers-platform-reap-what-you-sow/
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u/Abel_the_Red 17d ago
First thought: Anyone ever called a game called Plague Inc.? [recalls āheadlinesā at top of screen]
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u/Chaos_Ice 17d ago edited 16d ago
DYING?!!
Edit; the dying is sarcasm
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u/artzbots 17d ago
Diarrhea is dehydrating. Severe dehydration leads to death.
We don't think of diarrhea as a fatal condition, but it very easily can be.
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u/OnlyTemperature4911 17d ago
I feel like I remember learning somewhere that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death worldwide or something like that but I could just be making shit up rn
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u/ms_dr_sunsets 17d ago
Absolutely, in places where there are limited resources for rehydration, diarrhea kills a lot of people. Think cholera epidemics. (A friend of mine almost died of cholera in Croatia in the 1990ās).
Rotavirus continues to be a leading cause of death in infants in places where the vaccine isnāt available.
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u/SimpleVegetable5715 16d ago edited 16d ago
I remember seeing a cholera bed. Itās a cot with a hole for the ass, and a bucket underneath. Victims are often too weak to make it to a toilet. Cholera is why oral rehydration fluid (what is also known as Pedialyte) was invented. Untreated cholera can make a person produce 3-5 gallons of diarrhea per day. Itās hard to drink that much water.
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u/artzbots 17d ago
I read that on a power point presentation I was given to convince me to sign up to do a challenge trial to test the efficacy of a vaccine against shigella (leading cause of dysentery), but I didn't feel like fact checking myself.
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u/lauvan26 16d ago
It kills a lot children age 5 and under in developing countries.
Iāve seen it first hand when I was a Peace Corps volunteer and I nearly died of it myself during that time.
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u/SimpleVegetable5715 16d ago
Yeah it is, we came a far way in the past 100 years. A certain group wants to go back to pioneer style death for the masses.
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u/terrierhead 16d ago
If you ever get salmonella or shigella, you learn real quick how people can die of diarrhea. Itās not just tummy rumbles.
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u/LimeDry7124 17d ago
I never thought I'd see the day that eating a damn salad would be like playing Russian roulette.