American explosive The diarrhea problem is more stern than you think, and it’s about to get even messier.
The country is struggling with a immense and rapidly spreading epidemic of cyclosporosis – a parasitic infection causing extreme gastrointestinal disorders. There they are potential caseswith more than 3,300 of them in Michigan alone as of Tuesday, and state officials have indicated contaminated lettuce as the likely cause.
The actual number of cases, however, is almost certainly higher because most people do not seek medical assist when they have diarrhea. And even when they do, labs don’t routinely test for cyclosporiasis, says Jeanne Marrazzo, executive director of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He estimates the number of cases to be at least double the number reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This happens because of underdiagnosis, and also because there are cases that are probably mild. Many people will not report and will not be counted,” he says. Cyclosporiasis is not as common as other foodborne illnesses, which means it is not included in standard panels testing for several types of gastrointestinal illnesses.
But for many people who get the disease, the effects are, shall we say, not very pleasant. “What often happens with diarrhea is that you have an episode and feel better,” Marrazzo says. “It allows this to go on and on and it really turns people off.”
Bad enough, yes. But as for this whole situation, which is getting worse.
Public health officials have urged people to thoroughly spotless produce, and some restaurants have taken precautions. Especially, – said Taco Bell “as a precaution, it has “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients from select restaurants.” Although it may assist those who are trying live massively avoid cyclosporosis, this is not the only part of the product supply chain that may be affected.
Norman Beatty, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases and global medicine at the University of Florida, says: cyclospora the parasite has unique mechanisms that allow it to get into the crevices of other fruits and vegetables. It is most often found in fresh, raw products, especially herbs, lettuce and berries.
Unlike some more common foodborne pathogens, cyclospora It is resistant to bleach and common disinfectants used by food manufacturers. “Despite commercial approaches to washing produce that arrive in our grocery stores, oocysts can still stick,” Beatty says. (Oocysts are the infectious stage of the parasite.)
Cooking destroys the parasite, but lettuce and berries are usually eaten raw, so there is no straightforward way to eliminate them before eating.
Bill Marler, a lawyer specializing in food poisoning cases, says that historically most cases of cyclosporosis have been linked to imported products. However, within the last decade, the first All-American tournament was held in the US cyclospora outbreaks, such as when bagged lettuce from an Illinois plant sickened more than 700 people.
He described Marler cyclospora becoming “like pythons in the Everglades.” Invasive snakes have taken over South Florida wetlands, outpacing native fauna and inspiring a year-round python hunting season. Cyclospora it threatens to do the same by using our insides as a host environment. Like more people cyclospora and empty it, the risk of water contamination increases. This in turn increases the risk of outbreaks.
“What probably happens is that it gets into the water supply used to irrigate crops,” Marler says. He adds that outbreaks are usually blamed on farm workers, but “it’s unlikely it was a lone worker who didn’t wash his hands or someone pooped in a field. Something contaminated the water supply, which spread to more produce.”
The parasite is also resistant to chlorine, the main disinfectant used in most municipal water and wastewater treatment systems.
Beatty says thousands more people across the country have likely been infected.
“This shows us how easily an organism can be distributed quite quickly from one place in the United States to multiple locations through the networks that we have set up to distribute food,” he says. “It can be reported in all 50 states.”