Cyclosporiasis 2026

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Stomach bugs are not a fun thing to deal with, but the recent gastrointestinal outbreak reminds us of the trust that we put into prepared foods.

Zanesville Muskingum County Health Department Medical Director Doctor Jack Butterfield described the outbreak, the symptoms and why people should be concerned.

“Cyclosporiasis is the disease that is caused by the parasite called Cyclospora, and is not new, it’s been around for a long time,” Butterfield said. “This infection causes in general, explosive diarrhea, cramping, bloating, nausea, loss of weight, dehydration. And dehydration is often what leads to hospitalizations. There have been over 200 hospitalizations in this country, there’s been 96 in Ohio.”

Butterfield noted that although the illness can possibly lead to death, there have not been any fatalities reported during this outbreak. Due to the difficulty of tracking the spread, the CDC has recanted its identification of the source from strictly appearing in contaminated lettuce to multiple forms of imported produce.

“It takes 7 to 14 days in the ground in water sources to develop the spore,” Butterfield said. “Which is then infectious, which then has to land on lettuce, which then someone else has to ingest. So you’re talking 2-3 weeks or more from the original exposure to the next person who gets infected. And trying to narrow down all of the meals and everywhere someone’s eaten for three weeks when you’re talking about thousands of people is a very challenging problem.”

As of today, there have been no reported cases in Muskingum County. Butterfield emphasized that the outbreak stems from imported produce and that local or your backyard garden’s produce are not affected.