102015Aug

CDC Issues Cilantro Warning, Cyclosporiasis Outbreak

According to the CDC, there have been 384 cases of cyclosporiasis in 26 states this year. Over half of those cases have occurred after May 1 and none of the affected individuals have reported traveling outside of the United States.

The FDA has tracked down the likely culprit causing hundreds of gastrointestinal illness and have issued a ban on a some cilantro imported from Mexico. The affected cilantro has been causing cyclosporiasis in affected individuals, leaving them to deal with watery diarrhea, nausea and bloating and cramping.

Cyclosporiais is an intestinal infection caused by a parasite. The illness is caused by consuming food or drink that contains the cyclospora cayetanensis parasite and usually takes a week to make the person sick. The illness is not transmitted from person to person.

Sadly, an outbreak of cyclosporiasis is not new to the United States as the FDA has determined bad cilantro has caused similar outbreaks at some point during each year dating back to 2012.

Shipments of cilantro from Puebla, Mexico from April 1 through August 31 have received an alert and ban unless it is from a firm on the FDA’s approved list.

Many healthy people can recover without treatment, however should treatment be needed, physicians will likely prescribe Bacrum, Spetra or Cotrim. Without treatment, it is not uncommon to see symptoms last up to several weeks or months, and can even return again.