SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning after hundreds of people across 17 states became ill from a parasite called Cyclospora, which causes an intestinal infection known as cyclosporiasis.

Cases have been reported from Alaska to Louisiana, including in Massachusetts. In Michigan alone, health officials said cases grew to nearly 1,000 in just over two weeks.

Cyclosporiasis is typically spread through food or water contaminated with feces. No source for the current outbreak has been identified.

Dr. Esteban DelPilar, an infectious disease specialist at Baystate Health, said the outbreak is unusual given the number of people infected. “If you look at all the previous outbreaks, in most human cases, you can almost all of them track them back to some sort of produce - leafy greens, mixed salads,” he explained.

Unlike bacterial food poisoning, cyclosporiasis can last for weeks if left untreated with symptoms that come and go. Those symptoms include abdominal cramping, nausea, bloating, headache, loss of appetite, possible fever, and explosive diarrhea. Symptoms can take up to a week to appear after exposure.

“It’s important to know that, after you get exposed to the parasite, it can take up to a week for you to develop symptoms,” DelPilar noted.

DelPilar said treatment is available and recommended. “There is approved treatment for it. We can give you an antibiotic that will make your symptoms go away quite quickly. We don’t typically suggest people ride this one out because it can take weeks, sometimes even months in some patients, before the symptoms completely go away,” he added.

DelPilar said the parasite does not spread easily from person to person. “Its ability to transmit person to person is not really there, so that should give us some peace of mind that it shouldn’t spread like wildfire,” he explained.

DelPilar noted anyone who suspects they may be infected should stay hydrated and contact their physician. To reduce exposure, health officials recommend washing produce thoroughly and cooking it when possible.

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