Washington DC - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reportedly added to a growing list of states affected by a massive outbreak of the diarrhea-inducing virus cyclosporiasis.
According to The Washington Post, the CDC is expanding its list of states with recorded traces of the virus to include Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.
The six states bring the total number to 15, as they join Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
In Missouri in particular, cases have spiked dramatically in the past week, as state health officials have recently reported 1,095 cases.
The CDC first drew public attention to the virus back in July and later revealed it had been traced back to lettuce produced by the company Taylor Farms and sold at the fast food chain Taco Bell.
Earlier this week, two people in Michigan became the first individuals to die from the virus, though it's worth noting that both had "significant underlying health conditions," and experts do not view cyclosporiasis as life threatening.
As of Monday, the CDC said 10,468 laboratory-confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported across 47 states with at least 517 hospitalizations.