Disease

Legionnaires’ disease outbreak claims 2 more lives

Two more people have died from Legionnaires’ disease at a Reynoldsburg, Ohio, USA retirement community, bringing total deaths to four and those sickened to 35.

CDC Warns Of Rare Parasite Outbreak - USA

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials are warning about potentially tainted produce that may have caused sickness in over 250 people across several US states.

The produce, which would have been shipped across state lines, is believed to have been contaminated with a rare parasite known as cyclospora. Almost 120 people have reportedly tested positive for the rare protozoan in Iowa, an additional 65 tested positive in Texas and another 68 in Nebraska, according to state officials. Several other cases have been reported in Wisconsin, Illinois and Kansas, although the Illinois case may yet be traced back to Iowa.

Officials have yet to formally identify a source for the illnesses. Cyclospora are not known to thrive in the US – making the possibility that imported produce may be the culprit highly likely.