Health Secretary Robert F.Kennedy Jr.
said Tuesday the cyclosporiasis outbreak was “under control” even as health authorities continue to search for answers about why thousands of people in the U.S.have gotten sick.
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People can also get sick weeks after having eaten contaminated products, so by the time health officials become aware of an outbreak, all of a product worth testing may have been eaten or discarded.Scientists rely heavily on information about who developed symptoms and what they ate to trace an outbreak to its source.
A positive test result is not necessarily needed to determine the culprit.“We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics, and we’ve identified the source of the outbreak,” Kennedy said Tuesday.FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas was less definitive in his description of the outbreak, telling Fox News on Tuesday that the data “strongly supports” Taylor Farms as the responsible party.Diamantas said Monday on a media call that cases linked to the outbreak were identified as recently as last week, “which means it’s imperative for us to take action to ensure contaminated product is not making its way to the market.”The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which has counted 6,571 cases in the state as of Tuesday, said on its website that other food items cannot be ruled out as potential sources of the outbreak, addin...