NORFOLK, Va. — A parasite that causes gastrointestinal problems was sickening people across the country Wednesday and getting a lot of people talking. As of Wednesday, lettuce was the most common culprit in the reported cases.
“It’s horrible. I have kids and I don’t want to poison my kids," grocery shopper Lima Stockton said when asked about her reaction to the news about the parasite.
"Absolutely," grocery shopper Emmitt Short said when asked if it makes him think twice about eating lettuce.
Watch: Summertime cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to fresh produce
As of July 14, since May 1 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had received reports of over 1,600 confirmed cases of Cyclosporiasis, the disease caused by the Cyclospora parasite.
CDC data said between 11 and 30 cases were being reported in Virginia and 81 to 160 cases in North Carolina.
The disease had become a bit of a social media sensation, with numerous memes and videos about it and people jokingly referring to it as diarrhea lettuce. Diarrhea is one of the symptoms the disease can cause.
Watch: Health officials eye lettuce in spreading Cyclospora outbreak
Google trends showed searches of the disease were the highest as of Wednesday they had been since Google started keeping records.
Stockton said she tries to grow her own food so she doesn't have to worry about things like this.
"For a majority of stuff, yeah," Stockton said.
“I wouldn’t like to be sick myself, so if I could avoid such an outcome I would absolutely reduce my lettuce intake," said Short.
Watch: Suffolk church uses soil-free garden to feed the community
The number of confirmed cases nationwide had the potential to grow. As of Wednesday, the CDC said there were more than 5,100 cases that need to be analyzed more to determine if the illness being reported was Cyclosporiasis and if it came from within the U.S.
The process may not be easy, though, according to one health expert who talked with CBS News.
“The incubation can be a week or even two weeks. That lag time does make the investigation a little harder to do," Michigan Chief Medical Executive, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, explained.
If you are eating lettuce, peeling off the first three layers and thoroughly washing the rest of the leaves individually could help you avoid getting sick. Cooking produce to at least 158 degrees can also help.
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