JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Health Department states that Florida has had 96 cases of cyclosporiasis between May 1 and July 11.
Four of those cases are in Duval County, three are in St. Johns, and one is in Columbia County. Last week, the total number of cases in those counties was four.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that since May 1, they’ve received reports of 1,645 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis throughout the country that were contracted in the United States. An additional 5100 cases are being investigated, and 141 cases have led to hospitalization.
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Because cyclosporiasis symptoms can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from a normal stomachache, the CDC expects the actual numbers to be much higher.
The CDC defines cyclosporiasis as a “gastrointestinal disease caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora.” It’s linked to gastrointestinal symptoms, such as watery diarrhea, nausea, cramping, bloating and increased gas. It can lead to a loss of appetite, weight loss and dehydration.
Jacksonville Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Sunil Joshi, says symptoms can start as soon as two days or as late as two weeks.
He says the parasitic infection can be contracted by eating raw fruits and vegetables and appears to primarily stem from lettuce.
“It tends to stick to the vegetable in a way that makes it tenacious,” Dr. Joshi said. “It’s hard to get rid of, and so you have to really work at getting it off of vegetables.”
He says that when you eat produce, you must make sure you spend a few extra minutes thoroughly washing it.
“The best thing to do is not to buy the bagged shredded lettuce already, so if you buy a head of lettuce and you take off maybe the first two or three layers of it, and then wash it in the sink, you want to wash it hard with your hands,” Dr. Joshi said. “Even use a little scrubber to kind of get off any of the debris that might be on there. The same is true for potatoes, or for apples, or raspberries, or other fresh fruits.”
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To distinguish symptoms, Dr. Joshi says cyclosporiasis symptoms will likely have more severe cramping and will last for an extended period of time.
“If you have it go on for multiple days, you minimize how much you’re eating or drinking because you’re worried about the diarrhea, you can get dehydrated pretty easily,” Dr. Joshi said. “And might even require hospitalization or an emergency room visit to get IV fluids.”
He says those over the age of 60, very young children, or anyone who may be suffering from heart or lung disease can be at greater risk of health complications due to the dehydration the parasite can cause.
“Suddenly, you’re getting dehydrated, your blood pressure could significantly drop, and that can impact the ability of your heart to function too,” Dr. Joshi said. “It’s important for those people to be on top of this and to stay hydrated as much as possible.”
But Dr. Joshi wants to remind people that there are ways to minimize their exposure.
“It’s very, very important for people to know that this is not a person-to-person disease; this is not COVID,” Dr. Joshi said. “This is something that is spread through that fresh produce, so if you’re purchasing the produce, clean it off, and do what you can to make sure that your fruits and vegetables are clean to begin with, which is what we should be doing anyway.”
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