The list of foodborne parasites is long, and the morbidity and mortality they cause are very consequential. Yet, contemporary food safety literature on this subject is nearly mute. More often than not, the reporting on biological hazards in human food focuses on bacterial pathogens. Almost on a daily basis, we are inundated with reports of products recalled due to contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The list of implicated foods is extensive: dairy products, fresh fruits, ice cream and frozen vegetables, ready-to-eat foods, and deli meats have all been the subject of extensive and costly recalls. The other bad actors in this biological hazard category include Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter spp., Shigella, Staphylococcus, and even Clostridium botulinum. These disease-causing agents are so frequently reported in the contemporary literature and in news reports that even the lay public knows them by reputation. Recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirm a public health burden for the United States of some 48 million cases of foodborne illness with 128,000 hospitalizations and upward of 3,000 deaths annually.1 The World Health Organization (WHO)’s global foodborne disease impact data for 2010 reported 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths. The WHO report states further that the preponderance of this public health burden was due to diarrheal disease agents, particularly norovirus and Campylobacter spp.2 But alas, there are insidious foodborne parasites that also tremendously increase the burden of disease on public health. The WHO also confirmed that the parasite Taenia solium is among the major causes of foodborne disease deaths globally.2
Cyclospora: A Case for Improved Identification Methods