Karim Baroudi said the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's Environmental Health and Epidemiology teams are working around the clock on the explosive diarrhea parasite outbreak in Lucas County. The department said cases of cyclosporiasis have increased among residents since June 1, and investigators are trying to identify a common exposure.
Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis, and people can become infected by eating food or drinking water contaminated by feces containing the parasite. In the U.S., cases are often linked to fresh produce, especially in the summer, which gives investigators a likely route to examine as they look for the source in Lucas County.
Karim Baroudi on Lucas County
Baroudi said, "Our Environmental Health and Epidemiology teams are working around the clock to identify the source of this outbreak, limit its spread and protect the health of our community". Health department officials said anyone experiencing symptoms should contact their healthcare provider for treatment.
June 1 in Lucas County
The department said the increase in residents with cyclosporiasis has been building since June 1. That means the caseload is not a single-day event; it is a pattern health workers are tracking while they try to connect sick residents to a shared exposure.
Lucas County exposure search
If cyclosporiasis is left untreated, symptoms can last a few days to a month or longer, and they can return after initial improvement. For a resident who is getting better and then sick again, that pattern can point to a lingering infection rather than a quick one-off illness, which is why treatment matters while the investigation continues.
The open question is the one Baroudi's teams are trying to answer now: what common exposure linked the Lucas County cases.
