FDA identifies new cyclosporiasis outbreak

The Food and Drug Administration has identified a new outbreak of cyclosporiasis that has sickened at least 72 people, according to an update posted to the agency’s website late Wednesday.

The additional outbreak comes in the midst of the nation’s worst year on record for the intestinal illness, which is caused by a parasite transmitted through food or water contaminated with human feces.

The agency has not yet provided information about the source of the new outbreak or its location. The FDA is investigating five other clusters of cyclosporiasis cases, including an ongoing outbreak of at least 1,644 illnesses in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky that has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce sold by Taylor Farms and grown in central Mexico. Last Friday, Taylor Farms announced it was recalling shredded iceberg lettuce products from 27 states but did not disclose where these products had been sold or how consumers could spot them.

The announcement of a new outbreak means that the FDA has identified a cluster of cases that appears to be connected to a common source, said Frank Yiannas, a food safety expert and former top official at the FDA.

The fact that the FDA has listed the 72 cases as a separate outbreak does not necessarily mean that these new cases are entirely unrelated to the larger outbreak centered in Michigan, said Felicia Wu, a professor of food safety, toxicology and risk assessment at Michigan State University.

The agency may have listed the outbreak separately from the one centered in Michigan because it believes it is linked to a different food or is affecting people in a different part of the country, but it may turn out that the strain of cyclospora is the same as the parasite affecting thousands of people in the Midwest.

Although investigators can use genomics to link foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria quickly and definitively, it’s difficult to study the DNA from parasites. So it’s possible investigators don’t yet know whether the different outbreaks are connected.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that there were more than 11,000 cases of cyclosporiasis nationwide that were either confirmed or under investigation. Since 2016, the CDC has reported an average of about 2,800 cases per year nationwide.

Because the parasite thrives in warmer temperatures, it’s normal to see an uptick in cyclosporiasis cases between May 1 and Aug. 31. But experts say that this year’s surge exceeds the typical summer increase.

— The New York Times