Prisma Health is providing residents with tips and insight as cyclospora outbreaks continue across the United States.
The South Carolina Department of Public Health has reported 23 cases of cyclosporiasis statewide so far this year. Prisma Health officials said the illness, which is most commonly linked with fresh produce, tends to appear each summer but that this year’s outbreaks are occurring on a much larger scale.
What Cyclospora is and how to avoid it
Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal illness caused by consuming food contaminated with the Cyclospora parasite, most commonly raw produce. According to Helmut Albrecht, a medical doctor with Prisma Health, cyclospora is unlikely to spread through person-to-person contact.
“In order [for cyclospora] to become infectious, it needs to crack open its spores and release the parasite. And that requires a certain temperature, so it is generally a summer illness,” Albrecht said.
Albrecht says the incubation period for cyclospora is around a week — longer than other typical foodborne illnesses. Symptoms typically include frequent watery diarrhea, nausea and a lack of appetite. Most cases resolve on their own with extra hydration and rest, but there are effective antibiotics for more severe cases.
According to Prisma Health’s Chelsea Bruce, a registered dietician, there are several steps residents can take to reduce their risk of contracting the parasite.
“The number one thing is to make sure that you’re washing your hands before you’re handling any kind of fresh produce,” Bruce said. “If you have produce that has any bruised areas, remove it. If you have leafy vegetables, remove the outer leaves of that vegetable, and if you have something that has a really firm skin like potatoes, scrub that outer surface really well before you cut into it or peel it.”
Bruce says residents should wash produce in warm water, and that it is not recommended to use any kind of soap or commercial product to clean them. It is recommended to wash all produce before eating it, even if the packaging says it was pre-washed.
Officials note that cyclospora is unlikely to be in frozen or canned produce products. Residents can also cook produce to at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit to kill the parasite.
Sources of specific cyclospora outbreaks can be found on the FDA’s website.
Federal funding cuts raise concerns about disease tracking
South Carolina has reported 23 cases of cyclosporiasis so far this year, but Albrecht says that tracking disease has become increasingly difficult following federal cuts to CDC funding.
“It’s been so dismantled — our health department, the CDC — that we are probably not reacting as quickly as we could and getting as many cases reported,” Albrecht said. “We used to have FoodNet, which picked up these outbreaks before they actually happened. That’s gone. We don't have our EIS service at the CDC anymore … So I'm really not sure how good our numbers are, and that’s a little worrisome.”
Albrecht does note that many of the cases found in South Carolina predate the large outbreak in the Midwest. While officials say case numbers may continue to rise in coming weeks, Albrecht says he does not think that the outbreak will be too extreme in the state.
“It will fizzle out after the summer when the temperatures are not conducive to the spores being [spread],” Albrecht said. “But we could have sort of avoided some of this by identifying this a little quicker — if we still had that infrastructure left.”
For more information about cyclospora, visit the CDC’s website
