Food contaminated with cyclospora sickened at least 304 people in 19 states this summer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of the illnesses, 133, are in Texas where health authorities have identified cilantro imported from Puebla, Mexico as the source of the illnesses. Cilantro from Puebla, Mexico was also the food source of a 2013 cyclospora outbreak in Texas that sickened 270 people.
Cyclospora is a parasite found in tropical or sub-tropical regions. If ingested in its mature state, the parasite causes an infection called cyclosporiasis. Only about 150 of these infections are reported nationwide each year. Normally associated with travel.
Cilantro from Mexico is the source of a cyclospora outbreak in Texas for the second straight summer. At least 126 people in Texas contracted infections from eating food contaminated with the parasite before health officials declared an end to the outbreak late yesterday. Last year, 270 Texans contracted cyclosporiasis from cilantro grown in the same area identified the source this year, Puebla, Mexico.
FoodWorld 