Protecting families from contaminated food and water
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Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Posted in Cyclospora,Cyclospora,Our Blog,Outbreaks & Recalls on August 8, 2024
Over 134 people are sick in Wake County, North Carolina with Cyclospora illnesses linked to 3 restaurants. A Wake County Cyclospora Lawsuit is coming. Here’s what you need to know:
Health officials confirmed Wednesday they are investigating a cyclosporiasis infection outbreak that reportedly affected more than 100 people and three Wake County restaurants.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said the outbreak was identified in July. A spokeswoman with DHHS tells WRAL, “We have not identified the specific contaminated food item, and the outbreak appears to be over.”
The Wake County Health Department told WRAL News that it has had 134 cyclosporiasis cases reported since May and while three restaurants were being investigated, they were not thought to be the cause of the outbreak. Officials say that “investigations suggest herbs and vegetables may be the causative agent.”
Cyclospora, unlike most foodborne illnesses is a microscopic parasite, and not a bacterium. It is also fairly rare in the states, as it is more commonly found in tropical countries.
In the United States, Cyclospora infections are associated with travel to areas where the parasite is endemic or by consuming a contaminated food imported from an area where it is found.
Foodborne outbreaks of cyclosporiasis have been linked to a variety of fresh imported produce.
Previous outbreaks have been associated with:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no commercially frozen or canned produce has been implicated in a Cyclospora foodborne outbreak to date.
Cyclosporiasis symptoms often begin about a week after ingesting sporulated oocysts (the infective form of the parasite). It can, however, present as early as 2 days or even greater than 2 weeks after exposure in some cases.
The most common symptom of cyclosporiasis is watery diarrhea.
Other symptoms may include:
Some people may also experience vomiting and low-grade fever.
While not life-threatening, without treatment symptoms may persist for several weeks to a month or more with symptoms returning in cycles. Some symptoms, such as fatigue, may remain long after gastrointestinal symptoms have resolved.
In areas where Cyclospora is endemic, those infected with the parasite may not show any symptoms at all.
When a health care provider suspects cyclosporiasis, specialized diagnostic tests must be performed for accurate diagnosis. However, even in symptomatic patients, diagnosis can be tricky.
A patient’s stool specimen is examined for Cyclospora oocysts. In many cases the patient may not shed enough oocysts to be detectable by laboratory examinations. Multiple tests over a period of time are usually performed to ensure diagnosis cannot be ruled out.
Without specialized treatment, people with a healthy immune system will likely recover on their own. Appropriate treatment can help speed up that process. People with other health conditions or a weakened immune system may be at higher risk for more severe or prolonged illness associated with Cyclospora infection.
Anti-diarrheal medicine may help reduce diarrheal symptoms. However, certain medications are better suited to combat the parasite, which in turn will resolve the symptoms.
Trimethopirm/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX), otherwise known as Bactrim, Cotrim, or Septra brand products, are the usual therapy for Cyclospora infection. Unfortunately for those with a sulfa drug allergy, no other antibiotic regimine has been found as an effective alternative.
Fortunately, cyclosporiasis isn’t directly contagious. This is due to the parasite’s life cycle and the periods in which it is infectious.
An infected person only sheds unsporulated Cyclospora oocysts in their stool. It takes about a week or two for these oocysts to sporulate and become infective under optimal conditions. An infected person cannot transmit cyclosporiasis directly to another person, but they can, however, infect a water source or runoff used to water produce.
No. Cyclospora does not go away on its own. Left untreated, Cyclospora can last for months. Symptoms may seem to go away and then return one or more times (relapse). People suffering from Cyclospora often feel very tired. Certain symptoms, like fatigue, have been known to persist after the rest of the illness has subsided.
Due to the life cycle of this particular bug, you may have periods between symptoms where you can be infectious (shedding the immature oocysts for future infection) but non-symptomatic.
In some cases, someone infected with Cyclospora may experience long-term complications such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, reactive arthritis, long-term malabsorption issues, and infection relapse.
The CDC has strict definitions of what is considered a foodborne disease outbreak. This is generally the minimum requirement to prompt an investigation.
“A foodborne disease outbreak is defined as an incident in which two or more persons experience a similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a common food.”
This sometimes excludes family members who shared a meal at a particular restaurant or from a home prepared meal; though not always. This criterion captures potential illnesses from people who happened to consume the same type of contaminated food from the same place – indicating a trend rather than an unfortunate single item event.
Foodborne illness serious enough to warrant medical intervention is often the first clue that an outbreak may be in progress. Unfortunately, most normally healthy individuals recover on their own without medical attention, so their sample and data are not included in the investigation. Most accounts of foodborne illness go unreported, making an outbreak investigation slow to start.
If you find yourself sick from a foodborne illness, particularly one associated with an outbreak like the current Cyclospora outbreaks, there are a few things that you can do to help traceback investigation and put yourself on the path of recovery.
While most normally healthy individuals can recover without medical intervention, certain illnesses or symptoms may require medical attention to recover or recover more quickly. Always seek medical attention if your symptoms are severe. This may help prevent any long-term adverse health consequences.
Seeking medical attention to properly diagnose your illness also provides data that can be uploaded to the food poisoning database. If your illness is linked to an outbreak, your interview information could help investigators narrow down a source. Once a source is identified, a recall can be initiated. Recalls help prevent additional illnesses.
Your illness may not be life-threatening, but certain groups of people may not be so lucky. Reporting your foodborne illness can save lives.
If you discover you are sick with a foodborne illness, grab pen and paper, or you phone’s notebook app and start thinking. What foods and drinks as well as where you ate them or purchased them have you consumed in the week or so before becoming ill.
Make this list as early in the process as possible. Memories fade, particularly when we are under the weather. The earlier you make the list, the more complete it will be and you will have it ready when investigators ask you for it during the traceback process.
Cyclospora is usually caused by fresh vegetables and fruits. The source of this current Cyclospora outbreak is unknown. Investigators at the FDA and CDC are searching for the specific food products that caused this Cyclospora outbreak. Recent Cyclospora outbreaks have been caused by:
We hope you never need us. But when you do, we’re here to help.
Our mission is to help families who have been harmed by food poisoning. When corporations cause Cyclospora food poisoning outbreaks, we use the law to hold them accountable.
The Lange Law Firm, PLLC is the only law firm in the nation solely focused on representing families in food poisoning lawsuits and contaminated water lawsuits.
If you or your child was infected with Cyclospora or any other parasite and are interested in making a legal claim for compensation, we have a Cyclospora lawyer ready to help you. Call us for a free no obligation legal consultation at (833) 330-3663 or send us an e-mail here.