Indiana has had over 100 confirmed cases of cyclospora, a bacteria known to cause “explosive diarrhea,” since May 1.

Dr. Bill Sullivan, Showalter Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the IU School of Medicine, said the updated figures are alarming.

“We’re approaching 5,000 cases across 31 states; nearly 100 people have been hospitalized so far,” Sullivan said. “But to put that in perspective, we normally see less than 3,000 cases per year in the U.S. So this is going to be a record-breaking outbreak.”

Sullivan said an early step in curbing an outbreak is to identify the source.

A source of the outbreak has not been identified.

“As far as I understand, health officials have not pinned down the source of this particular outbreak,” Sullivan said.

“By far and away, most likely these types of outbreaks tend to be traced to unclean lettuce or leafy greens that have made their way into prepackaged salads… I imagine that’s where this is going to land.”

What makes this outbreak different is the lack of preventative measures in place.

In the past, existing measures were enough to contain cyclospora.

“The things that we have in place have kept Cyclospora in relative check for decades,” Sullivan said. “We had a program called FoodNet that would monitor for about eight different food pathogens.”

That has changed.

“This time last year, the CDC decided to stop reporting of monitoring for cyclospora and six other pathogens on that list,” Sullivan said. “I would find it hard to believe that that doesn't have something to do with the magnitude of this outbreak, and that program should be reinstated immediately.”

FoodNet would ordinarily require immediate reporting of any pathogen on that list.

Sullivan said inconsistent reporting has resulted from the decision to stop monitoring for cyclospora.

“That, I think, is why we're experiencing this record-breaking outbreak,” Sullivan said. “Without that rapid reporting and the requirement to do so, health officials have been behind the ball.”

Sullivan was not certain why the administration cut the reporting program, but he had a guess.

“Probably as a cost-saving measure,” Sullivan said. “But in some cases, they cut some really critical programs, and now we're paying the price.”

The CDC has reported 843 confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis, with more than1,500 suspected cases awaiting review.