A handful of cases of a severe stomach bug in Ontario and British Columbia are likely not linked to an outbreak in the United States that has sickened nearly 400 people, health officials say.
Health officials in the U.S. are trying to determine if the outbreak of cyclospora parasites that has sickened more than 200 residents in Iowa and Nebraska and that has been linked to pre-packaged lettuce is the same ailment affecting hundreds of residents in 15 other states and New York City.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday that 378 cases of cyclospora infection were confirmed as of Wednesday. Health officials in Nebraska, where 78 people have fallen ill, and Iowa, where 143 people are sick, have linked the infections to a particular salad mix.
Officials have not named the brand that manufactures the mix. However, health officials in Nebraska say the mix contained iceberg and romaine lettuce, as well as carrots and red cabbage.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it’s checked with its U.S. counterpart and the product is not sold in Canada.
In Iowa, officials say they believe that most or all packages of the product are now off store shelves, having traced them back to specific grocery stores and restaurants.
There have been a number of packaged salad recalls but this is the first confirmation of parasites, not from animals but from human feces. A possible theory is that the water used for irrigation is contaminated with human excrement. Even triple-washing won’t remove it.
The CDC said Wednesday that the agency “will continue to work with federal, state, and local partners in the investigation to determine whether this conclusion applies to the increase in cases of cyclosporiasis in other states.
“It is not yet clear whether the cases from all of the states are part of the same outbreak.”
Reports of cyclospora infection began popping up in mid-June. While a handful of cases in Ontario and B.C. have been reported, the patients had not recently travelled to the United States, according to Dr. Doug Sider of Public Health Ontario.
The parasite can be transmitted to produce from contaminated water or soil. Once it is there it is very difficult to remove, even with washing. Cyclospora can cause severe diarrhea, abdominal bloating, pain, weight loss and nausea, Sider told CTV Toronto.
“In older people it can be more severe,” Sider said. “It can be more severe in people with compromised immune systems, for example, with HIV.”
The infection can be treated with a combination of antibiotics.
According to Sider, the parasite is far less common and so is less of a concern than other infections that can be contracted from contaminated food, such as salmonella.
Last March, Canadian researchers found that nearly one-tenth of samples of pre-washed lettuce they tested came back positive for parasites, including cyclospora. The study did not specify how the samples were contaminated. The food, or the workers and equipment used to process it, could have been contaminated during harvest, packaging or transport.
With a report from CTV’s Daniele Hamamdjian
