The McLean County Health Department [MCHD] said McLean County is among the areas affected by a cyclosporiasis outbreak that's led to thousands of people becoming seriously ill.
Late last week, McLean County had five confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis. Four of the five cases were contracted internationally, according to MCHD Communicable Disease Supervisor Meghana Daliparthi. The origin of the fifth case has not been confirmed, but there is a high chance that it was also contracted internationally due to the person's recent travels, Daliparthi said.
As of Aug. 5, there have been 6,358 lab-confirmed cases nationwide. The Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed that 1,260 of the cases are in Illinois — 808 of which have been contracted domestically.
Cyclosporiasis is a foodborne or waterborne illness caused by a microscopic parasite called cyclospora. The illness can be contracted by eating or drinking food contaminated with the parasite, such as raw produce sourced from countries where the parasite lives.
Like many foodborne and waterborne illnesses, Daliparthi said the parasite primarily affects the intestines, causing symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, loss of appetite, bloating, weight loss and fatigue.
Two people in Michigan have died during the recent outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control [CDC].
Local and personal prevention
The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has not issued a required food recall for any items; the recent produce recall from Taylor Farms linked to iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico was voluntary after the FDA suspected it as a potential source of contamination.
The health department’s contact tracing has traced the illness back to iceberg lettuce from outside of the U.S. Daliparthi said because of this, the risk of cyclospora infection in McLean County is low.
“If you have two or three confirmed cases that [get traced to] local food here, that is when [it becomes an] outbreak,” Daliparthi said. “We do not have an outbreak in McLean County.”
There is no lab-confirmed food source of the illness making produce unsafe to eat and enjoy — but there are still preventive actions that can be taken to avoid cyclospora and similar parasites.
“If you are buying fresh produce or vegetables, make sure you are washing them thoroughly,” Daliparthi said. “Just rinse them thoroughly. For example, you just got lettuce. Make sure you're removing outer [leaves]. And in case of any fruits or vegetables that you could peel, try to peel them.”
When cooking raw vegetables, Daliparthi said it is best to cook food to an internal temperature of at least 158 degrees, the temperature at which the parasite dies.
Health department intervention
The process of confirming a case of cyclospora is a lengthy one. Symptoms may develop anywhere from two days to two weeks after the initial contraction.
“It takes some time for that parasite to actually incubate in your body and cause you symptoms,” Daliparthi said.
Due to the common symptoms, many ignore the illness as regular diarrhea, but after a few days with symptoms, it is recommended to go to the doctor and then potentially get tested. After giving a sample, it can take five to seven weeks for results to come back.
The McLean County Health Department contacts anyone with a confirmed case to perform contact tracing, looking at a person’s food history, travel history and if others close to them have similar symptoms. All cases are reported to the state health department, where they look for trends and report data to the CDC.
