Quantcast
Published On: Mon, Nov 12th, 2012

CDC issues advisory for travelers to Tioman Island, Malaysia due to Sarcocystosis outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a travel notice for the Malaysian island of Tioman due to an outbreak of the parasitic infection, sarcocystosis.

Sarcocystis life cycle/CDC

According to the notice, at least 55 cases of sarcocystosis that have been associated with 2012 summer travel to Tioman Island.

This compares to just 35 travelers returning from Tioman Island were diagnosed with the parasite in 2011.

Sarcocystosis is a disease caused by a parasite called Sarcocystis. Sarcocystosis occurs in tropical or subtropical countries, including countries in Southeast Asia.

The parasite is most prevalent in areas where livestock is raised.

Sarcocystosis manifests itself in humans in one of two ways: as an intestinal disease that produces diarrhea, or more commonly as an infection of the muscles causing myalgia, muscle weakness, edema and fever.

People are infected through ingestion of food, water, or soil contaminated with infected animal feces.

Currently, there is no proven prophylaxis or therapeutic treatment for either intestinal or tissue sarcocystosis.

The CDC advises travelers to Tioman Island to do the following to prevent sarcocystosis:

Avoid contact with animals

• Do not touch or feed animals, especially cats and wild animals.
• Do not touch animal droppings.
• Avoid contact with soil that may be contaminated with animal droppings.
Drink and use safe water
• Drink bottled water or water that has been boiled or filtered. Water purification tablets and chlorine products may not kill Sarcocystis.
• Do not drink beverages with ice unless you are sure the ice was made with safe water.
• When swimming, avoid getting water in the mouth, eyes, or nose.

Eat safe food

• Cook all meat to 160°F (71°C), especially pork and beef.
• Eat cooked food hot.
• Keep all food covered.
• Do not eat raw or undercooked foods, especially shellfish, except for fruits and vegetables you can wash with safe water or peel yourself.

Wash your hands

• Wash your hands with soap and safe water. If you do not have soap, use an alcohol-based (60%) hand sanitizer.
• Wash your hands before you eat or prepare food, before feeding your children, after using the toilet, after changing diapers, and after taking care of someone ill with diarrhea.

For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page

On the DISPATCH: Headlines  Local  Opinion

Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd ) [ALL INFO CONFIDENTIAL]

About the Author

- Writer, Co-Founder and Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch. Robert has been covering news in the areas of health, world news and politics for a variety of online news sources. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the website, Outbreak News Today and hosts the podcast, Outbreak News Interviews on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify Robert is politically Independent and a born again Christian Follow @bactiman63

Leave a comment

XHTML: You can use these html tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

like_us_on_facebook

 

The Global Dispatch Facebook page- click here

Movie News Facebook page - click here

Television News Facebook page - click here

Weird News Facebook page - click here 

DISPATCH RADIO

dispatch_radio

THE BRANDON JONES SHOW

brandon_jones_show-logo

Archives