Cyclosporiasis has been causing illness throughout the United States. As of July 7, the Virginia Department of Health is reporting 10 cases of Cyclosporiasis but is not currently investigating any local outbreaks, according to a press release from state health officials.

Cyclosporiasis is an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite called Cyclospora. 

Anyone can get cyclosporiasis.  It is more common in people who travel to tropical areas, but the infection can occur in many different countries. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has received reports of 145 cases of cyclosporiasis acquired in the United States of people who became sick from May 1 through June 16.

The majority of cases and outbreaks are reported during the spring and summer months, although infections can occur year-round.  Most outbreaks of cyclosporiasis have been linked to imported fresh produce.  

Cyclosporiasis is not spread directly from person-to-person. Infected people pass Cyclospora in their feces, but this form of the parasite cannot make people sick. The parasite needs time in the environment to change into a form that can make people ill.  This form of the parasite then can infect someone by entering the body through the mouth, typically by eating or drinking something that is contaminated with Cyclospora.   

Truck driver charged with DWI after crash on Parkersburg Turnpike

(WSET) — If you haven’t spotted them yet, you probably will soon.

The peak of spotted lanternfly season is just beginning, and the heat isn’t stopping them. It may actually be speeding up their development.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent Scott Baker says this year, the eggs began hatching roughly two weeks earlier than they did last year. He says this is because of some warmer-than-normal temperatures in the spring and summer months.

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The sooner lanternflies hatch, the sooner they progress through their stages of immaturity to adulthood, where they become the recognizable, winged adults.

That’s when you’re most likely to see them flying around in your backyard.

“So based on the temperatures that we have accumulated this year, people should begin to see the adults now, and then they will continue to see more and more adults, less of the immature stages,” Baker says. “And I would say by the end of July or early August, they’ll be seeing only adults”

Even though these pesky bugs are a nuisance, Baker says they don’t actually do that much damage.

When the invasive species first migrated south to Virginia around 2021, Baker says experts took more caution towards them. Now they appear to be less destructive, except to specific grapevine plants.

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Baker adds that other animals adapt by feeding on the lanternflies, which helps to control the population.

“The longer that the insect is in a particular area, the more we are seeing things start to feed on them, like other insects, spiders, birds,” Baker says. “I think Mother Nature, over time, will begin to help us regulate the population outside of what we can do, which is good news.”

If you have any concerns about handling your plants as these bugs hit peak season, agents at the Virginia Cooperative Extension are a free resource and happy to help.

Clarkston — A Virginia man accused of driving drunk on I-75 in northern Oakland County and plowing his truck into a car on the side of the freeway, killing a Pontiac family of four, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Charles Dean Pace, 27, of Glen Allen, Virginia, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday morning to four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing death. He’s being held without bond.

Second-degree murder in Michigan is punishable by any number of years in prison, including a life sentence.

Pace is accused of killing Zakeria Dodson, 23, Tieree Powell, 24, Nalani Powell, 3, and Karter Powell, 2 on July 1 when he crashed into their stalled vehicle with his Ford F-250 on Interstate 75 in Springfield Township. Investigators reported Pace’s blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.