Domestically Acquired Cyclosporiasis Sends 21 to Hospital as the CDC States No Source Yet Identified
On the 14th of July, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated the report of domestically acquired Cyclosporiasis cases, now totaling 208 cases, including 21 hospitalizations.
While the CDC reports annually on domestically acquired Cyclosporiasis cases in the U.S., the report is usually expected to include the source of the afore-mentioned intestinal illness, which is not the case regarding this year’s Cyclosporiasis report. According to the CDC, “many cases of cyclosporiasis cannot be directly linked to an outbreak, in part because of the lack of validated laboratory “fingerprinting” methods needed to link cases of Cyclospora infection. Officials use questionnaires to interview sick people to determine what they ate in the 14-day period before illness onset. If a commonality is found, CDC and partners work quickly to determine if a contaminated food product is still available in stores or in peoples’ homes and issue advisories. In previous years, outbreaks of cyclosporiasis in the U.S. have been known to be caused by fresh produce products, such as snow peas, lettuce, packaged salads, basil and cilantro.
While Cyclospora cases are commonly found to rise dramatically during the spring and summer seasons, they are reported and listed by the CDC all year round. In the immediate years preceding 2021, domestically contracted Cyclospora saw an increase beginning in May, with a significant peak in the months of June and July that slowly reduced until the month of September.
As of the 13th of July, 2021, there have been 208 reported, laboratory confirmed Cyclosporiasis cases in American individuals, who are known to have not travelled within the 14 days of contracting the illness. The onset date of the median illness is the 17th of June, 2021. 21 American individuals have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.
