Cyclospora affects three in Hillsborough County, Florida reports 25 cases total
Florida has not been immune to the parasitic outbreak of cyclospora that has affected 378 people in 16 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday.
The Sunshine State is now reporting 25 cases statewide, including three cases in Hillsborough County according to a WTOP news report.
Image/David Benbennick via Wikimedia Commons
The Hillsborough County Health Department said with its three cases there have been no identifiable food or origin, or distributor list.
However on Wednesday, the state that first started reporting cyclosporiasis, Iowa, linked the parasitic outbreak to unnamed pre-packaged, bagged salad mix saying, “Over 100 restaurants and 80 grocery stores were patronized by cases during the time they could have been exposed to Cyclospora.
“Exposures to pre-packaged salad mix could have occurred at more than 50 possible sites (including more than 15 restaurants, more than 30 grocery stores and other possible sites),” they continue.
Hillsborough County Public Information Officer Steve Huard said we cannot completely avoid contamination but he recommends, always washing even the pre-washed and triple-washed produce in your grocer’s food section. He said to also stay informed with the latest from the CDC and also if you are not feeling well, and you’re experiencing those stomach flu-like symptoms, go to the doctor, do not wait, and risk going without any treatment.
Health officials say if you haven’t got sick yet, you’re probably in the clear.
Cyclospora cayetanensis is a single celled coccidian parasite that is endemic in the United States and Canada.
The parasite causes watery diarrhea, nausea, anorexia, abdominal cramps and weight loss. Fever is a raresymptom.
People get infected with Cyclospora through foodborne or waterborne means. Swimming in contaminated water is also a way someone can get infected.
Cyclospora has been implicated in numerous outbreaks in North America with contaminated fruits and vegetables being the common culprits (raspberries, basil and lettuce all washed with contaminated water), especially those imported from developing nations.
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Why are the FDA and CDC withholding the truth about the source of the cyclospora pathogen which is sickening hundreds of people across the US? The FDA AND CDC KNOW cyclospora originates in human feces and can be spread in sewage sludge biosolids used for crop “fertilizer” and reclaimed sewage effluent water used for crop “irrigation”. The US EPA promotes the use of sludge biosolids and tainted irrigation water for farming to enable big cities and urban areas to dump their toxic, pathogenic wastes in Rural America “on the cheap” -and that is why the truth is being covered up.
Helane Shields, Alton, NH [email protected]
http://www.sludgevictims.com