Cyclospora cases pass 350 in US with some linked to Mexican cilantro

Conditions at multiple firms included human feces and toilet paper found in growing fields and around facilities.

CDC reported more than 350 people in 26 states sickened by Cyclospora cayetanensis. The agency said 358 people are ill with most (199; 56%) reporting onset of illness on or after May 1, and no international travel. Clusters of illness linked to restaurants or events have been reported in Texas, Wisconsin, and Georgia. Investigations in Wisconsin and Texas have preliminarily identified cilantro as a suspect vehicle.  Previous outbreaks of cyclosporiasis were linked to imported fresh produce, including cilantro from the Puebla region of Mexico.

Annually recurring outbreaks (in 2013 and 2014) have been associated with fresh cilantro from the state of Puebla. Fresh cilantro checked at border by FDA issued an import alert to detain samples of fresh cilantro from Puebla from 1 April to 31 August. It comes after the FDA, the government of Mexico’s National Agro­Alimentary Health, Safety and Quality Service (SENASICA) and Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS), investigated farms and packinghouses. These agencies inspected 11 farms and packing houses that produce cilantro in Puebla from 2013 to 2015, five linked to past C. cayetanensis illnesses, and found objectionable conditions at eight of them, including all five linked through traceback to the illnesses.

Conditions at multiple firms included human feces and toilet paper found in growing fields and around facilities; inadequately maintained and supplied toilet and hand washing facilities or lack of them and water used for washing cilantro vulnerable to contamination from sewage/septic systems.

Shipments of fresh cilantro from other states in Mexico are accepted if they were harvested and packed outside of Puebla. Public Health England (PHE) has also warned of an outbreak linked to contaminated food in Mexico. 24 cases were reported in England and Scotland in June and July, of which 21 were associated with travel to Mexico, it said. Salmonella investigations.

Meanwhile, the outbreak of Salmonella linked to pork products has grown to 90 cases in Washington State. Health officials have asked the CDC to send a special team to help with the investigation. The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-­FSIS) issued a public health alert due to concerns about illnesses caused by Salmonella associated with pork products, specifically whole pigs used for pig roasts. FSIS was told of Salmonella I 4, [5],12:i­illness clusters on July 15 and suspects there is a link between the illnesses associated with whole pigs used for pig roasts and eight illness clusters based on information gathered with the Washington State Department of Health and the CDC.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/2014/