Doctor answers your questions after health officials link first deaths to cyclospora outbreak
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Updated: 11:00 PM EDT Aug 4, 2026Editorial Standards ⓘ
ByWESH 2 Web Staff
Doctor answers your questions after health officials link first deaths to cyclospora outbreak
Updated: 11:00 PM EDT Aug 4, 2026Editorial Standards ⓘ
ByWESH 2 Web Staff
ORLANDO, Fla. —
This week, health officials announced the first deaths in the U.S. linked to the ongoing cyclospora outbreak
<img src="https://healthylife7.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/04bb45af-64e6-464c-a905-6effba9b3abc.jpg" alt="Map: 2 deaths, more than 22,000 cyclospora cases reported in U.S.”>
Map: 2 deaths, more than 22,000 cases of cyclospora reported across U.S.
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According to the Michigan Department of Health, both individuals who died had significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by the illness
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there are more than 24,000 cases across the U.S., with 254 cases in Florida. The Midwest is said to be getting hit the hardest
Dr. Taseen Desin with the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine joined WESH 2 News live on Tuesday to answer your questions:
How worried should we be about the cyclospora outbreak?
“So, it’s definitely a parasite that can cause gastrointestinal disease. We’ve heard terms like ‘explosive diarrhea,’ which can make a person quite afraid or worried, but it is relative. Relative to other pathogens or other gastrointestinal diseases. It is a pathogen that causes similar symptoms. It can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and if we take care of ourselves, I think most of us are able to handle it if we stay hydrated, if we contact our healthcare officials at the right times, if we make sure that we wash our produce,” Dr. Desin said.
Should we avoid produce?
“So, that is the question we always get asked: ‘Should we stop eating lettuce?’ And I think the CDC has only associated the outbreak so far with only one brand of lettuce. (…) Myself, I still eat lettuce. If we wash it properly, I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about. And this is just one pathogen that is causing this illness, there are so many other outbreaks that go on at the same time. (…) It’s important to eat our vegetables, our salads, our fruits as long as we’re careful and we contact our health care professionals if we see that we’re getting dehydrated, severely dehydrated,” Desin said.
Are there any groups at risk for serious complications from the illness?
“So of course if you have underlying conditions, if you have kidney disease or congestive heart failure or some other sort of disease that is quite severe, you’ve got to take extra precautions, and the biggest, I think, challenge is if you get dehydrated with any kind of diarrheal illness. You want to watch and make sure that you don’t get dehydrated if you have other conditions. People who are elderly, people who are going through chemotherapy, if you notice that you’re getting severe nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, definitely want to seek attention and seek attention early. This is really key so that our health care officials, our doctors, our physicians, can really do their best to help us recover and get our fluids and get treated,” Desin said.
Chipotle says it’s removing jalapeños from restaurants because of a salmonella outbreak. Is there anything more we need to do to stay safe?
“Well, when you hear such outbreaks, you think, ‘Is the world coming to an end?’, ‘What’s really going on?’, but these are pathogens that have always been out there. Currently, if you look at the FDA website, there’s so many outbreaks. There’s E. coli, there’s salmonella, there’s this here, so many things, and a lot of us, when we’re healthy, we’re able to recover. We don’t really necessarily need treatment or we need to replenish fluids, but salmonella’s out there, you want to be careful. So far, the CDC as of now has not really associated or reported anything that we need to be careful of, but of course, we want to watch our news, look out for any recalls, keep up to date with the CDC and FDA announcements and their recalls,” Desin said.
>>Watch the interview at the top of this story
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