Cyclosporiasis has been in the news a lot lately. It’s a nasty intestinal illness that we can pick up from food or water that’s been contaminated with a microscopic parasite called cyclospora.
North Carolina is one of about a dozen states that recently experienced a big jump in the number of cases — over 500 since the beginning of May. Forsyth County Health Director Joshua Swift says in North Carolina, there’s not a fixed numeric threshold that automatically defines an outbreak. It can vary from flu to COVID to measles.
"It’s generally defined as two or more epidemiologically linked cases, with at least one of them being laboratory confirmed, that are associated with a common exposure, like same restaurant, same grocery store, catered event, same produce item, things like that," he says.
Swift says in Forsyth County, there have only been three cases. And all three were from out-of-state travel, with no known link. He says restaurants are routinely inspected, manufacturers do their part, and modern surveillance methods allow Swift and his colleagues to identify cases like these early on.
But with rising cases, he says to be sure to wash fruits and vegetables, cook the foods that need to be cooked thoroughly, and, as always, remember to wash your hands.