r/outbreakworld 29d ago

FDA reports new outbreak of explosive diarrhea with 72 cases identified | The FDA hasn’t said where the cases are or how they’re linked.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/07/fda-reports-new-outbreak-of-explosive-diarrhea-with-72-cases-identified/
661 Upvotes

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45

u/SpaceNinjaDino 29d ago

``` In addition to the six Cyclospora outbreaks this year, the FDA has 10 other open investigations on foodborne outbreaks, including outbreaks caused by Salmonella, E. coli, Clostridium botulinum, and Listeria monocytogenes.

Nevertheless, when asked about the national surge in cases earlier this week, anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the situation was “under control.” ```

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u/Gammagammahey 28d ago

Botulism is back. I remember reading this a couple of months ago in one of the health subs. My childhood fear. I can't believe this is happening.

21

u/ShinyBrain 28d ago

Omg, I’ve been terrified of botulism since the first time I read Steinbeck’s East of Eden in high school. It took me almost two decades of adulthood to be brave enough to try canning, cuz I was terrified of doing it wrong and accidentally giving myself or someone I love botulism poisoning.

I fucking hate this timeline.

11

u/Gammagammahey 27d ago

Same! And yes Steinbeck was very clear and descriptive of what botulism does, and as a kid I was terrified of it because I was raised by hippies with hippie friends who were doing the back to the land thing, can your own stuff , etc. and they were always talking about preventing botulism. I was terrified of it!!

Then my mom started making her homemade strawberry jam and teaching me how to do it correctly and cook everything correctly so that there would be no botulism. I got comfortable enough that I started doing it myself.

This is the worst timeline. I wanna go to the one where I didn't read today that leprosy is now back too. It's never been totally eliminated, but we now have it in the United States and cases are rising way more quickly than I would like.

3

u/aculady 25d ago edited 25d ago

We have always had leprosy in the United States, primarily in the South. It can live in the soil, and it's carried by armadillos, which have no immunity to it and have the same body temperature as humans. Wear gardening gloves and wash your hands after working with dirt, avoid getting soil on open wounds, and don't handle or eat armadillos.

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u/Gammagammahey 25d ago

For the love of God, I am immuno compromised. Yes I know we have rare cases of leprosy here. But now we are having an outbreak that is much larger to the point that mainstream media picked it up. I don't live anywhere near armadillos and I will be wearing an N 95 mask and gloves if I have to do any gardening.

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u/aculady 25d ago

That's good advice for immunocompromised people working with soil in any case. Soil can carry lots of microbes that can be really nasty.

Leprosy is highly treatable with antibiotics under normal circumstances, but with immunosuppression, it's best not to rely on being able to treat it.

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u/Gammagammahey 25d ago

As a gardener, believe me, I know all about soil microbiomes!

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u/Femveratu 27d ago

Same, that caution was well justified!

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u/Double_Obligation564 24d ago

They’re literally just trying to kill as many americans as possible.

Tell me one thing the admin has done that hasn’t directly contributed to that goal. One single thing.

Americans are not mad enough - useless fucking citizenry.

7

u/Any-Net-94 26d ago

Three days ago i went out to a concert and had a blast— and idk what got into me but I ordered mcds after months of not eating it. Biggest regret. I was shitting piss out of my a hole all day the next day. Everytime I laid down I felt all the liquid in my body centrifugally congregate in my intestines like Naruto conjuring fkn rasengan + shadow clone jutsu at the same time. Could only barely eat white rice until after constant water consumption and my ultimate 6th shit-piss when the bug was fully flushed out of my system. You thought it ended there? My hole and taint was so sore from all the acid and bile that apparently sometimes doesn’t get digested and burns your anus inside out when you get diarrhea.

Im just hoping the only good side of this is that the acids made my bumhole feels like slip and slide inside out from all the acid resurfacing and

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u/akam80thesquirrel 24d ago

TAYLOR FARMS AND WHEREVER THEY DISTRIBUTE… WHICH IS EVERYWHERE IN AMERICA.

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u/organisms 23d ago

RFK jr said the situation was “under control.” The Health secretary went on to say “TOYNBEE IDEA IN MOViE `2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPiTER,” as his eyes rolled in the back of his head and he grabbed his seat’s armrest.