Parasite that causes ‘explosive diarrhea’ is spreading across the US

Key Points:

• The Cyclospora cayetanensis parasite has infected 145 people across 17 U.S. states between May 1 and June 16, causing symptoms like watery diarrhea, nausea, and fatigue, with 20 hospitalizations reported.
• New York has the highest concentration of cases, with 31 to 80 infections, followed by Illinois and Texas with 11 to 30 cases each; all other states have fewer than 10 cases.
• None of the infected individuals have recently traveled outside the U.S., suggesting the outbreak is linked to contaminated food consumed domestically, though the specific food source remains unidentified.
• Cyclosporiasis symptoms typically begin about a week after infection and can last from several days to over a month; while the illness may resolve without antibiotics, medical treatment is often recommended.
• Public health authorities including the CDC and FDA are actively investigating multiple clusters to identify the source, with no evidence of person-to-person transmission or deaths reported in the current outbreak.