According to the FDA, the Fresh Express salad cyclospora outbreak has sickened at least 509 people in 8 states as of July 8, 2020. That's an increase of more than 300 new cases since the last update on June 29, 2020. Thirty-three people are hospitalized because they are so ill. There is also a cyclospora outbreak in Canada, with exposure to certain Fresh Express salad products as a likely source of these infections. The case count by state is: Iowa (160), Illinois (151), Kansas (5), Minnesota (63), Missouri (46), Nebraska (48), North Dakota (6), and Wisconsin (30). The illness onset dates rate from 5/11/2020 to 7/1/2020. The investigation includes Fresh Express salads containing iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots that were sold in several regions of the United States. The … [Read more...]
ALDI Recalls Little Salad Bar Garden Salad For Possible Cyclospora
ALDI is recalling its Little Salad Bar Garden Salad for possible cyclospora contamination, in association with a recall issued by Fresh Express. This product is one of three listed by the FDA as potentially linked to a multistate cyclospora outbreak in the midwest that has sickened at least 76 people in 6 states. The Little Salad Bar Garden Salad was sold in a 12 ounce plastic bag. The product has the UPC number 409910008297 stamped on the package, and the best if used by dates are May 1 through June 29, 2020. Fresh Express notified the company that some of its products were implicated in the outbreak by the FDA. No other ALDI products are affected by this recall. ALDI has removed this product from its store shelves. The Little Salad Bar Garden salad was sold in ALDI stores in … [Read more...]
Jewel-Osco Recalls Signature Farms Garden Salad For Cyclospora
Jewel-Osco is recalling its Signature Farms Garden Salad for possible cyclospora contamination, according to a notice on its website. The FDA has listed this product as potentially linked to a multistate cyclospora outbreak that has sickened at least 76 people in 6 states. The salad was sold at Jewel Osco stores in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa. People sickened in the outbreak live in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The recalled product is Signature Farms Garden Salad, sold in 12 ounce bags in the produce section of each supermarket. The best if used by dates on the salad are May 16 through July 4 (5-16-20 through 7-04-20). This date is printed on the top right corner of the front of the package. The UPC number on the back of the package is 21130 98135. Each … [Read more...]
FDA Updates ALDI Jewel Osco Hy Vee Bagged Salad Cyclospora Outbreak
The FDA has updated the ALDI Jewel Osco Hy Vee bagged salad cyclospora outbreak that has sickened at least 76 people in 6 midwest states. Hy-Vee has posted a recall of some of its garden salads on the FDA web site. ALDI and Jewel Osco have also listed recalls, but on their corporate sites only. The most significant changes to report are that the number of states where these products were probably sold has increased, along with details about the recalled salads. The recalled salads are potentially linked to the multistate Cyclospora outbreak by the FDA. The "garden salads" in question contain iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots. Consumers should not eat, and restaurants and retailers shouldn't to sell or serve these recalled salads. The Hy-Vee garden salad was sold in Iowa, … [Read more...]
In Canada, Cyclospora Outbreak Grows to Include 61 Cases
In Canada, a Cyclospora outbreak has grown to include 61 cases. Health officials have not yet identified the food source of the outbreak, but imported produce is suspected. A parasite native to tropical climates, Cyclospora is not commonly found in Canada or the U.S. Often illnesses are travel-related or linked to imported produce such as berries, salads greens, and peas. In this outbreak, the 61 cases were reported between May and July from: British Columbia (1), Alberta (2), Ontario (52), and Quebec (6). One person was hospitalized. The outbreak occurs as more than 150 British travelers to resorts in Cancun, Mexico picked up the parasite while vacationing and as Texas battles a Cyclospora outbreak for the fourth straight summer. A food source has not been identified, but the … [Read more...]
Food Poisoning Flashback: Cyclospora Produce Outbreaks
Produce from Mexico contaminated with Cyclospora has caused illness outbreaks that sickened hundreds of Americans in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2013, some of the illnesses were linked to tainted bagged salads, in 2014 and 2015 illnesses were linked to contaminated cilantro. Cyclospora is a parasite that lives in subtropical climates. The hallmark of an infection, called cyclosporiasis, is profuse, often explosive, diarrhea that can last for 70 days. Other cyclosporiasis symptoms, which can also last 70 days, include abdominal cramps, bloating, gas, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, vomiting, body aches, low-grade fever, and other flu-like symptoms. A 31-state cyclospora outbreak that sickened 546 was the second-largest multistate food poisoning outbreak of 2015. Some … [Read more...]
Source of Most Cyclospora Cases in Current Outbreak Unknown
A cyclospora outbreak that sickened 304 people in 19 states this summer has gone largely unsolved. Cilantro from Mexico was identified as the source of the 133 cases in Texas, but the source of the 171 cases in the remaining 18 states has not been identified. Similarly, in a 2013 outbreak, a food source for of most of the 643 cases of cyclospora reported in 25 states was never identified. In both outbreaks, cilantro imported from Puebla Mexico was identified as the food source for cases in Texas. This year, 133 people in Texas contracted infections from eating food contaminated with the parasite, last year, 270 Texans got cyclosporiasis from contaminated cilantro. Cyclospora is a parasite normally found in tropical or sub-tropical regions. If ingested in its mature state, the … [Read more...]
Cyclsospora Sickens Dozens in NY
Dozens of New Yorkers have contracted parasitic infections this summer from contaminated food. At least 29 cases of cyclospora infection have been reported in New York since June. Nineteen of the cases were reported in the city, 10 throughout the rest of the state. Other states have also reported spikes in cases of cyclosporiasis, the infection caused by cyclospora, a rare parasite normally associated with travel to tropical regions. Since June, roughly 300 cases of cyclosporiasishave been reported from more than a dozen states including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and Washington. Health authorities have not yet identified a food source in any of the affected states, nor have they been able to … [Read more...]
CDC Mum on Hundreds of Cyclospora Infections
Cyclospora, a parasite associated with travel to tropical climates, typically sickens about 150 Americans each year. So, last summer when spikes in cases began appearing, health officials took note. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was not the first to report the 2013 outbreaks, which eventually sickened 631 people in 25 states. The agency lagged weeks behind various state health departments and media outlets in its announcement of the outbreaks. Deja vu when cyclospora cases began to spike again this summer. Only this time the agency’s silence can be measured in months, not weeks. The CDC has not made an announcement about the outbreak and has not responded to an inquiry made by Food Poisoning Bulletin two weeks ago to determine what, if any, role it is playing in … [Read more...]
Cyclospora Sickens 160 in Texas
At least 160 people in Texas have contracted cyclospora infections from an unknown food source, according to the latest update from the Texas Department of State Health Services. A surge in cases of cyclosporiasis has been reported in 18 other states including California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Cyclospora, a parasite normally associated with tropical or subtropical climates, sickened 631 people in 2013, hospitalizing 49. Produce imported from Mexico was identified as the source of most of those illnesses. Cyclospora is transmitted via the fecal-oral route, meaning microscopic amounts of fecal matter from an infected person contaminate … [Read more...]
