Produce Practices to Prevent Cyclosporiasis

AFFECTING THEIR SURVIVAL. HELLO, EVERYONE. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. I'M MIKE WALTER, FLORIDA HAS JOINED THE GROWING LIST OF STATES SEEING A SURGE IN CASES OF CYCLO-SPORA. THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH REPORTS MORE THAN 400 CONFIRMED CASES OF THE BACTERIAL INFECTION, INCLUDING 35 IN LEE COUNTY ALONE, A PERSON CAN BECOME SICK AFTER EATING FOOD OR DRINKING WATER THAT CONTAINS EVEN TRACES OF MICROSCOPIC FECAL MATERIAL. HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE NOT LINKED THE FLORIDA CASES TO ANYONE SPECIFIC OUTBREAK. DEPUTIES USED EDDIE BYRNE HAS MORE ON THIS CONTINUING HEALTH CONCERN. >> SO FOR MORE ON THE GROWING NUMBER OF CYCLISTS, POOR CASES IN FLORIDA, I'M JOINED BY DR REBECCA, WITH HER ALL AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST WITH NAPLES, COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME TODAY. SO SO FAR 15 STATES HAVE BEEN LINKED TO ICEBERG LETTUCE, TAINTED WITH CYCLOSPORIASIS. CAN YOU SHARE SOME OF THE HEALTH ISSUES THAT COME WITH THE EXPOSURE TO THE BACTERIA? >> ABSOLUTELY. SO CYCLO SCORE A IS A MICRO THAT CAN BE FOUND MOST COMMONLY IN PRODUCE. AND SO IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO DETECT. AND THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY IT'S BEEN DIFFICULT TO NAIL DOWN THE ORIGINAL SOURCE. AND WE'RE SEEING THIS LARGE SPREAD THROUGHOUT MULTIPLE STATES. SO THE SYMPTOMS THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR WOULD-BE G I DISTRESS, MEANING UPSET STOMACH, DIARRHEA, MOST COMMONLY SOME CRAMPING MAY BE PASSING MORE GAS, FEELING UNWELL AND IN SOME CASES, IF PATIENTS ARE PARTICULARLY ILL, THEY MAY ALSO HAVE FEVERS. >> AND NOW WE'VE SEEN A SHARP INCREASE WITH OVER 350 CASES REPORTED IN FLORIDA. YOU KNOW, WHY HAS THERE BEEN THIS SUDDEN SURGE IN THE NUMBER OF CASES AND HAS LED US IS A MAJOR PART OF THE DIET FOR MANY PEOPLE. WE EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEAR FUTURE. >> SO I WILL SAY THAT WE DO SEE AND CYCLICAL PATTERN WITH CYCLISTS FOR A EVERY YEAR IN SUMMER MONTHS ARE THE HIGHER MONTHS WHERE WE SEE THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE. AND OF COURSE, WHEN THERE ARE OUTBREAKS OF BECOMES AN EVEN GREATER CONCERN. SO I DO THINK THAT WE'RE STILL IN OUR SUMMER CYCLE AND THERE IS INCREASED RIP RISK AS WE CONTINUE THROUGH THE SUMMER. SO IT BUYS PEOPLE TO MAKE SURE THAT IF THEY ARE EATING PRODUCE THAT THEY'RE PROPERLY CLEANING THAT THE BEST WAY WITH LETTUCE IS IS GOING TO BE TO REMOVE THE OUTER LEAVES FROM THE PRODUCT BEFORE YOU'RE PREPARING IT AND THEN WASHING A VERY WELL UNDER A GOOD STREAM OF WATER. ADDITIONALLY FOR ANY PRE BAGGED MIXES. I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU AGAIN USE A HIGH VELOCITY WATER OR A SALAD SPINNER TO HELP REMOVE PHYSICALLY ANY OF THOSE CYCLES FOR THAT COULD BE PRESENT ON THOSE LETTERS. PRODUCTS TO HELP PREVENT THE INFECTION IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE AN ONGOING ISSUE. I SUSPECT. >> SO AT WHAT POINT IF ANYONE BELIEVES THEY COULD HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO, SHOULD THEY GO SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION BECAUSE THIS MIGHT BE MORE THAN JUST THE STOMACH BUG PASSING >> IF SOMEBODY IS HAVING SYMPTOMS WITH THE CRAMPING DIARRHEA, THEN IF THOSE ARE GETTING BETTER WITHIN A COUPLE OF DAYS AND THERE'S BEEN A RECENT EXPOSURE IN THE LAST A WEEK OR SO WITH LETTUCE TYPE PRODUCTS OR PRODUCE THAT WAS NOT COOKED. SO FRESH PRODUCE, THEN THAT WOULD BE THE TIME TO GO VISIT A DOCTOR OR AN URGENT CARE AND EXPLAIN TO THEM. YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SYMPTOMS, THE DURATION THAT THEY'VE BEEN PRESENT AND THEN THE EXPOSURE HISTORY WITH THE PRODUCE TO ASK FOR TESTING SPECIFICALLY FOR CYCLISTS BECAUSE THAT TESTING IS DIFFERENT THAN THE REGULAR TESTING. WE WOULD DO FOR A DIARRHEA TAPE WORKOUT. >> SO NOW, HOW DO OUTBREAKS GET TO THIS POINT? YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT CYCLE AS KIND OF AN ANNUAL THING. IT DOES COME AND GO. BUT EVEN WITH THIS RAPID GROWTH IN NUMBERS, WHEN THERE'S ALREADY BEEN PRODUCT RECALLS, HOW DOES THAT GET TO THE POINT WHERE IT IS EXPANDING THIS RAPIDLY? >> WELL, SIR, THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT COULD BE HAPPENING. ONE OF THE THINGS IS, OF COURSE, THAT THE MORE THAT WE HEAR ABOUT THINGS IN THE PUBLIC, OF COURSE, THERE'S MORE AWARENESS AND SO MORE PEOPLE WITH SYMPTOMS WILL BE WILLING TO PRESENT TO THEIR DOCTOR AND GET TESTING. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO BE MORE AWARE OF THOSE. A CLUSTER YS OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN EXPOSED BECAUSE OF THE AWARENESS OF THIS PARTICULAR SECONDS FOR OUTBREAK AS OPPOSED TO IN YEARS WHERE THERE IS NOT NECESSARILY AN OUTBREAK AND PEOPLE MAY SIT AT HOME A LITTLE BIT LONGER AND NOT NECESSARILY GET TESTED. SO THERE IS SOME OF THAT BIAS. WE'RE SEEING THAT IN TERMS OF TESTING. WE'RE TESTING MORE. SO WE WILL SEE MORE OF THE CASES SHOWING UP. ADDITIONALLY, THERE APPEARS TO BE MORE THAN ONE SOURCE FROM THIS PARTICULAR OUTBREAK. BASED ON THE LITERATURE THAT'S BEEN AVAILABLE SO FAR, IT SEEMS THAT THERE MAY BE AS MANY AS 6 DIFFERENT SOURCES THAT ARE CAUSING THESE DIFFERENT POCKETS AND OUTBREAKS AND SO ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN SOME RECALLS, IT SEEMS THAT WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO LOCALIZE ALL OF THE OUTBREAK SOURCES. AND SO THAT WOULD MEAN ONGOING OUTBREAK. >> WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR VIEWERS ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR OUTBREAK OR WAYS THAT THEY CAN STAY SAFE FROM ANY FUTURE SITUATIONS. >> I WOULD ALWAYS ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO CONTINUE WITH HEALTHY EATING HABITS. I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO FEEL THAT THEY CAN'T CONTINUE TO CONSUME PRODUCE, BUT I DO RECOMMEND THAT WE KNOW ARE MINDFUL AND CAREFUL ABOUT THE PRODUCE THAT WE'RE CONSUMING. AND THAT MEANS MAKING SURE THAT IS EITHER COOKED SO THOROUGHLY COOKED PRODUCE WILL KILL OFF THIS. THIS CYCLE IS 4 AND WON'T BE AN ISSUE OR CLEANING. LIKE I SAID, USING A GOOD STREAM OF WATER FOR MECHANICAL REMOVAL OF THE CYCLO-SPORA WILL BE A SUFFICIENT WAY TO REMOVE THE MAJORITY. ALMOST ALL OF THOSE CYCLISTS POOR THAT ARE ATTACHED ARE INHERENT IS THEY TEND TO BE AN OUTER SURFACES. >> OKAY. WELL. >> GREAT DOCTOR WORLD, THANK