Articles Tagged with ''cyclospora''

Public health experts say the ongoing cyclosporiasis situation exposes growing weaknesses in national foodborne illness surveillance, highlighting how funding and program cuts and CDC staff attrition could undermine outbreak detection and delay response, affecting public health communication and consumer confidence in food safety.

In a letter, Senator Amy Klobuchar urged CDC and FDA to fully restore food safety programs that have been affected under the Trump Administration and continue supporting state public health agencies with the resources needed to detect, investigate, and respond to foodborne illness outbreaks. 

More than 400 cases in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia appear to be epidemiologically linked, although a food source has not been confirmed. Michigan alone reports more than 3,300 Cyclospora infections.

Per CDC, 843 domestically acquired cyclosporiasis cases have been confirmed in 31 states, plus another 1,500 pending analysis. Michigan alone has reported more than 2,600 cases and is looking at lettuce as a potential vehicle of illness.

Cyclosporiasis is surging across the U.S., with CDC and state public health officials reporting a growing number of cases. Michigan alone has reported more than 1,200 Cyclospora infections since June, resulting in at least 44 hospitalizations.

Cyclosporiasis is considered an "important neglected parasitic infection" by CDC. It is also a nationally notifiable disease. Cyclospora is an emergent foodborne pathogen that is frequently overlooked in risk assessments for food safety assurance—an oversight that might not be justifiable.

The executive summary includes global risk characterizations for parasite-food commodity combinations for Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Giardia, Toxoplasma gondii, and other foodborne protozoan parasites.

Recently concluded research funded by the Center for Produce Safety provides practical, immediately actionable insights that industry can integrate into their operations, ranging from sanitation best practices, to Salmonella and E. coli mitigation, to wild bird management, and more.

With funding from the Center for Produce Safety (CPS), a team of researchers are developing a rapid viability test for the challenging parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published the results of a sampling and testing assignment to determine the prevalence of Cyclospora cayetanensis, Salmonella, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in cilantro, parsley, and basil.