News outlets are reporting that an alleged cyclospora outbreak has occurred after people ate at Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant, located in the Markets at Town Center near the St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville, Florida. People who belong to the Exchange Club held a banquet at that venue last month.
Illnesses started in mid-June. Some of the restaurant’s patrons still have symptoms, which is not unusual with cyclosporiasis, the illness caused by this parasite. Patients can be sick for weeks or months, and the illness can seem to resolve and then recur without warning.
The Duval County Health Department is sending a survey to people who were at the restaurant last month and is examining lab tests. Results may not be back for several days. Several of the people who attended the banquet have been confirmed with cyclosporiasis.
You can contact food safety attorney Fred Pritzker for help if you have been diagnosed with cyclosporiasis by calling 1-888-377-8900.
This illness is caused by an oocyte, which must mature in a person’s GI tract. After it is expelled in feces and lives in the environment for a while it will mature and become infective. The illness is not passed person-to-person because of this time lag, but through contaminated food and water. People usually get sick a few days to a couple of weeks after ingesting the parasite. Humans are the only major host for cyclospora.
Symptoms of cyclosporiasis frequent, explosive, and watery diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain and cramps, headache, low-grade fever, fatigue, nausea, bloating, and increased gas. Symptoms can recur if this infection is not treated. Patients are usually treated with the antibiotics Bactrim or Septra, which are sulfur-based. If a patient is allergic to sulfa, there is no effective alternative treatment. Some people, especially those with weakened immune systems, may become so ill they need to be hospitalized.
