The number of suspected cases of cryptosporidium linked with Duluth’s Edgewater Resort and Water Park has risen to 41, a state official said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a second outbreak of cryptosporidiosis has been linked to a water park in the Brainerd area, the Lodge at Brainerd Lakes.

Trisha Robinson, an epidemiologist for the Minnesota Department of Health, said it wasn’t a surprise that the number of suspected cases linked to the Edgewater grew from the six that were listed when reports became public Tuesday. It is believed that for every confirmed case in a crypto outbreak, there are 98.6 additional cases, Robinson has said.

The number of confirmed cases remained at three on Thursday. Robinson said it’s probable that some, but not all, of the suspected cases eventually will be confirmed as crypto.

The outbreak of the same illness linked to the Lodge at Brainerd Lakes so far is not as extensive as the Edgewater outbreak, Robinson said. As of Thursday, one case had been confirmed and 14 cases were suspected.

Robinson, whose specialties include crypto, said she typically investigates between one and three outbreaks of the disease each year. To have two outbreaks occur simultaneously is “unprecedented,” she said.

All of the people who became ill in the Duluth outbreak had spent time at the Edgewater Resort’s water park sometime in March. The victims included children and adults and residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin.