The CDC has confirmed more than 1,600 cases of a gastrointestinal parasitic infection. More than 140 people have been hospitalized, as the CDC looks for the source.
Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The outbreak of cyclospora is growing. Thirty-four states have reported cases of the parasitic infection, and the CDC is urging healthcare providers to test people who have symptoms, including severe diarrhea. NPR’s Allison Aubrey is following efforts to track down the source, and she joins me now. Good morning, Allison.
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK. So what started as a small outbreak seems to have grown so quickly. What’s the latest?
AUBREY: Yeah. Yeah. Well, on top of the more than 1,600 confirmed cases of cyclospora, the CDC is aware of another 5,100 cases awaiting confirmation. The youngest person who’s gotten sick with cyclospora is 2. The oldest is 95 years old. No deaths have been reported, Leila, but more than 140 people have been hospitalized. And fortunately, there is a treatment – antibiotics. Now, officials say this is an unusually high number of cases. At this point last year the CDC documented about 250 cases total across the country. So the CDC’s Gwen Biggerstaff says this is a very big shift.
GWEN BIGGERSTAFF: This is much, much higher than what we’ve seen last year or the year before.
AUBREY: So investigators say cases in four states – Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky – appear to be connected and may be linked to a common source.
FADEL: Now, there are news reports that some Taco Bell locations in Michigan have stopped serving lettuce and other fresh produce items as a precaution. Do investigators know what’s behind the outbreak?
AUBREY: Not yet. CDC investigators are interviewing people who’ve gotten infected, asking them what they ate, where they ate it, looking for potential common sources. And they’re also analyzing genotyping data from the stool specimens of infected people, just trying to find clusters of related cases.
Now, prior outbreaks have been linked to lettuce, bagged salads, herbs, such as basil, cilantro and berries. And Tuesday afternoon, the FDA’s acting deputy commissioner for food, Donald Prater, was asked about these reports from Michigan that lettuce could be a potential culprit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD PRATER: We are aware of the signal for lettuce that’s being noted by our Michigan partners. What I can say at this point is that we’re continuing our trace-back investigation on multiple produce items, including the lettuce.
AUBREY: So bottom line, they do not know, and this could take a while, Leila.
FADEL: Why does it take so long to identify and confirm cases?
AUBREY: Well, one of the reasons is that it takes up to two weeks to develop symptoms after someone eats a contaminated food. Another thing, I spoke to Dr. Christopher Attaway of the University of Vermont. He says if more people with symptoms would get tested, there would be more information for investigators.
CHRISTOPHER ATTAWAY: I think a lot of people are going to have symptoms that they’re not going to seek treatment for, so they’re not going to be tested. So we’re going to miss, like, data points that could help identify the culprit.
AUBREY: So there is no routine testing for cyclospora, but amid this outbreak, public health officials say stepping up testing is really key.
FADEL: I mean, I keep thinking, oh, that means I should just eat a bunch more chocolate, no salad. But what is actually the best way for people to protect themselves?
AUBREY: Well, you know, a typical way that a cyclospora infection actually happens is that contaminated water is used to irrigate crops, and then the parasite gets onto the food. So the best way to kill cyclospora, Leila, is to cook food to at least 158 degrees, and CDC officials say it is helpful to rinse fresh produce that you’re obviously not going to be cooking. Though, that may not get rid of all the pathogen, it can help reduce it.
FADEL: That’s NPR’s Allison Aubrey. Thank you, Allison.
AUBREY: Thank you, Leila.
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