Using a bathroom 20 times a day - life in the middle of US cyclospora outbreak
A significant outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic intestinal illness, is affecting thousands across the United States. Residents in Michigan are particularly impacted, leading to widespread anxiety and changes in food consumption habits.
Why it matters
This represents the largest recorded outbreak of this parasite in US history, highlighting public health risks associated with foodborne illnesses.
Figure caption, US shoppers react to mysterious ‘explosive diarrhoea’ parasite
So when it hit Nick Palmiter at the beginning of July, he didn't think much of it.
But symptoms persisted. And as days turned into weeks, the stomach cramps unbearable.
"I was absolutely in pain," Palmiter said. "And it was just to the point to where I was probably using the bathroom at least 15 to 20 times a day."
The 29-year-old described the sensation as a constant pressure and bubbling, "almost like you have a balloon in your stomach".
At the urging of a coworker, he finally visited an urgent care facility and, upon arrival, was told that he immediately needed to go to an emergency room.
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