- Earlier this month FDA announced ten planned activities to mitigate and prevent future Cyclospora outbreaks. The announcement coincides with the conclusion of the investigation of a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections linked to iceberg lettuce.
- The activities include the planned publication of an outbreak investigation report regarding the recent Cyclospora outbreak in iceberg lettuce, which will include factors contributing to the contamination and recommendations to prevent future outbreaks; increased surveillance of commodities historically associated with Cyclospora; increased public outreach to educate growers on practices to comply with food safety requirements and reduce the risk of Cyclospora contamination; increased collaboration with food regulatory authorities in Mexico; and leveraging foreign supplier verification program (FSVP) inspections to ensure that importers are considering Cyclospora contamination as part of their hazard analysis and supplier verification.
- Most cyclospora outbreaks originate from imported foods as the disease-causing organism, Cyclospora cayetanensis, is not endemic to the U.S. C. cayetanensis is a single-celled coccidian protozoan parasite, the lifecycle of which requires a human host to grow and reproduce (CDC – DPDx – Cyclosporiasis). Feces containing the organism can contaminate the environment, including food and water, although it is passed in feces in an unsporulated oocyst form which is not infective until it sporulates. The incubation period is typically one week and symptomatic infections typically take the form of watery diarrhea.
