Cyclospora Presents Special Challenge for Outbreak Investigators

Food-safety investigators say tracking the source of a Cyclospora outbreak can be especially difficult and time-consuming.

University of Minnesota professor Doctor Craig Hedberg says patients may not become sick until two weeks after exposure. Investigators must conduct detailed interviews about everything patients ate and where they purchased it during that period.

Health officials then trace potentially contaminated food through restaurants, grocery stores, distributors, processing facilities and farms.

Cyclospora also cannot be cultured and genetically compared as easily as bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli. That makes it more difficult to determine whether illnesses in different states originated from the same contaminated product.

Testing for the parasite is not always included in routine laboratory screenings and may need to be specifically requested.

Hedberg says outbreak investigations require extensive cooperation among local, state and federal agencies. Public-health experts warn that staffing shortages and funding cuts could slow future detection and response efforts. CDC Cyclospora information, Food Safety Magazine