Outbreak of Cyclospora parasite infected dozens of Canadians including one person in Oxford County
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An intestinal parasite that reared its head across the country has also taken root in Oxford County.
An outbreak of Cyclospora, a parasite that can be contracted from imported produce, has caused 83 reported cases of intestinal illness in Canada. The vast majority of the cases are in Ontario, including one in the county.
“We do have one case in Oxford…related to this outbreak,” said Elaine Reddick, public health’s supervisor for health protection.
The outbreak sent two people to hospital, but no cases were fatal, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Cyclospora isn’t native to Canada, which is why outbreaks are tied to produce imported from tropical countries.
"It’s not usually an overly serious illness, but it can be for young kids or older people or people with weakened immune systems,” said Reddick.
“But even if you’re healthy, it can still give a few days of not feeling very good, with diarrhea and cramps.”
Luckily, those tummy troubles - from an illness called cyclosporiasis - aren't passed from person to person.
“It can only spread when it’s in the form called a spore, and actually when it’s coming out of people it’s not in that form. It’s when it’s in the environment that it turns into a spore to protect itself, and then that’s the form that can actually infect people,” Reddick said.
“Having a case is not going to cause more cases in Oxford.”
The spore can contaminate produce during cultivation, irrigation or packaging stages.
“The people…who are actually picking the produce may have the parasite and pass it that way. It can be in irrigation water that’s put onto the produce,” Reddick said.
A federal investigation was launched to determine the source of the outbreak.
“They’re not sure yet what food that might be associated with, so certainly other people in Oxford could have eaten the same food and we could see other cases that way,” Reddick said.
So how can residents protect themselves and their families from Cyclospora?
“Washing your produce, that is absolutely the number one thing with this. The parasite can be washed off produce,” Reddick said.
She acknowledged that simple prevention strategy doesn’t always come naturally.
“There has been outbreaks in the past with raspberries, for example, and the way that raspberries have those little bumps, you’ve really got to give it a good wash to get into all those little crevices,” Reddick said.
“It’s also happened with those pre-packaged salads. Even myself, I’m guilty sometimes of not wanting to wash those.”
Using a produce brush to clean firm produce like melons and upping the water pressure for more delicate items (think raspberries or greens – even pre-washed) is always a good food safety strategy, Reddick said.
“You need to do the best cleaning you can do without harming the fruit or the vegetable to get rid of…viruses and other parasites that could potentially be on produce.”