ParasitesCDC warns of parasites-related illnesses in fifteen states

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Monday that the number of Cyclospora cases has risen to 373 in fifteen states.

Food Safety Newsreports that State and federal health officials have not named the food or water source responsible for to the outbreak, but fresh produce is the likely source.

The investigation into the outbreak began last month with two reported cases in Iowa.

Cyclospora causes flu-like symptoms, including diarrhea and low-grade fevers, symproms which are known to last for some time. Other symptoms include weight loss, bloating, fatigue, vomiting, and gas.

The CDC said it is not known whether all the illnesses are from a single outbreak, or whether multiple sources are the reason, but the CDC is counting any infection confirmed by a state where a person became ill in mid-June or July of last year, without any history of travel outside North America up to two weeks before the illness.

The CDC has asked state and local health laboratories to use a rapid confirmation method, known as telediagnosis, which is the transfer of diagnostic images, for detecting the parasite.

The last large Cyclospora outbreak in the United States was in the late 1990s and was eventually traced back to imported raspberries.