Cyclospora parasite rampant in parts of US – Spectrum of Science Skip directly to content
“Explosive diarrhea”: Intestinal parasites affect more than a thousand people in the United States
A particularly unpleasant and persistent intestinal disease has already been reported in 31 countries. Piquant: the Trump administration previously excluded the pathogen from the surveillance program.
© Yuki Kondo/Getty Images/DigitalVision (details)
Cyclospora causes recurring diarrhea that causes sufferers to run to the toilet dozens of times over several days.
It’s microscopic, but its effects can be significant: There’s a parasite currently circulating in the United States that causes, among other things, explosive diarrhea.
A parasite called Cyclospora caietanica It is not usually transmitted directly from person to person, but through food or water contaminated with human feces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). »Cyclospora “It affects the small intestine, usually causing watery diarrhea with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) writes. It is still unclear what the source of the current outbreak is and whether these cases are related.
Reports from 31 states out of 50
Michigan health officials announced Friday that there have already been more than 1,500 cases. The state typically sees only about 50 cases a year, according to the agency.
The CDC wrote reports from 31 of the 50 US states. However, not all states have numbers high enough to warrant an outbreak. In New York, for example, 470 cases have been identified since May 1, according to the local health authority. This is not a significant deviation from the number of cases typical for this time of year, the department noted.
Suspicion of fresh vegetables and herbs
Cyclospora– Outbreaks usually occur in the summer and are associated with the consumption of fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables.
Parasites are excreted in the feces in the form of oocysts, that is, thick-walled spores. They are not infectious in fresh stool. Instead, the parasite requires some time outside the body, during which the oocysts mature and become infectious again. If they end up in wastewater that is not treated properly, they can end up back in food when irrigating crops or washing crops, thus completing the cycle.
Cyclosporiasis – infection with the pathogen – is usually not fatal, but can quickly lead to dehydration, US authorities warn. To detect the parasite, patients must provide several stool samples. While cases typically increase during the spring and summer months, the number is higher than usual this year, according to the CDC.
As the Huffington Post reports, the national health department has massively shut down the FoodNet program, which was supposed to track such pathogens: instead of eight pathogens, there are now only two on the list of monitored microbes for cost reasons. Cyclospora doesn’t count. The reason for this was the austerity measures that the US government allegedly introduced to increase the efficiency of government. As a result, controversial US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also fired about 10,000 permanent employees last year. (dpa/jad)
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