Ep 211: Cyclospora and Salad Diarrhea
Years ago, as a part of our Privy summer plans, we discussed swimming pools and the fun that can be had cooling off at the pool. In it we reminded ourselves that a person never really gets ALL the poop out of their butt, the reason you shower is actually to keep the effectiveness of the bacteria and parasite killing parts of the pool water functioning better, and the culprit from people who get sick, throwing up or diarrhea, named so effectively by my coworker as the cha chas is likely the parasite or bacteria called cryptosporidium.
We talked pool etiquette and warned of the dangers of swimming and drinking the water that somebody's infant’s baby swim diaper has just been tea bag soaking in the water for the last 2 hours. It wasn’t until recently I was reminded of that episode because there is a new menace on the scene giving everyone the cha chas. We’re going to discuss it this week and how the timing, though kind of perfect, couldn’t be worse.
To introduce today’s episode, I think the best way to do it is by way of a very full segment of POO IN THE NEWS!
POO IN THE NEWS
Today’s Poo in the News article is going to focus on PBS’ article: “What you need to know about the cyclosporiasis outbreak”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-cyclosporiasis-outbreak
It details that this batch of cyclospora is a foodborne parasite that has hit the US. The author notes that Michigan seems to be at the center. Ground zero if you will.
As of the article being written, now pushing a month ago, there were 1500 confirmed cases of parasite diarrhea in Michigan alone with more cases popping up in nearby states every day. It should be noted, the illness is not fatal, you just poop a lot. The bathroom situation that ensues is described by the article using one of the most unfortunate adjective any time you talk about anything happening in the bathroom. “Explosive” and while most cases last a few days, there are reports of it lasting up to a month. That’s a long time to have diarrhea. Diarrhea is a lifestyle.
The article goes on to answer an important question. What the heck is this parasite? That said, it doesn’t really answer that. It notes not EVERYONE who contracts the parasite will have symptoms. It spreads through eating food or drinking water that has been contaminated with feces or poop for the layman. Most people recover without any treatment.
The recommendation, until it is controlled, is to thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables or to avoid them altogether. The article also states that the only sure way to avoid it all is to cook the vegetables as the parasite dies after 160 F.
Cyclsporiasis
The article and all the hubbub has left me wondering about how we figured out Cyclospora in the first place. It should be noted, Cyclospora is technically not the full story. That is the genus of the parasite and there are 16 species under the genus. What is most notable is all of these species come from various animals, except one, which comes from humans. Cyclospora cayetanensis. Most of these interestingly come from moles, mice, monkeys and reptiles.
The genus was created to describe this category of parasite in 1881 when the first of the cyclospora was found inside a millipede. It’s kind of wild. Who is the bug kid that is like inspecting the bacteria in the millipede poop or digestive tract to the point that they clocked a new parasite and in turn named it.
But the one in question, the one who is giving everybody explosive diarrhea is of the cayetanensis. This parasite is what is called a coccidian parasite. They form spores that reproduce inside an animal cell. Most of the time, the way you would get a parasite of this type is by eating uncooked meat, not washing your hands, or from cat litter.
Cyclospora cayetanensis or cyclospora as I am going to discuss it from here on out, was mostly unknown about, at least in the parts of the world that were recording and keeping track of all these parasites until the late 1900s. For some time, the disease which resulted from human infection of Cyclospora was called “traveler’s diarrhea”. People would go to countries where the parasite was well known, but not labeled, eat contaminated food or drink, crap themselves real bad while on vacation, and then come home.
As globalization increased, America and other parts of the world began importing produce from other parts of the world. Parts of the world where Cyclospora thrives. This would be fine, as cyclospora again is usually tied to contamination normally through fecal matter.
The first published report of Cyclospora was in 1979 where the parasite was found in the poop of 3 people in Papua New Guinea. When it comes to this brand of Cyclospora, it turns out we are special. Humans are the ONLY way it can take host in. Bad news is when it does infect the cell lining of much of our intestinal tract and in doing so increases mucus production and in time ruptures those cells. When this happens on a large scale in an enclosed space, with one exit, it produces what I and science prefer to call diarrhea.
Notably, if I have cyclospora today, duce my drawers real bad, that poop isn’t likely contagious. Person to person spread is almost never how it goes down. Rather, when human waste infects something else, and the parasite is allowed to grow to maturity in that space, and then is ingested by humans… then you’ll get the runs.
The 2026 Cyclospora Outbreak
To bring it back to where we started. How did we get here? With all these cases popping up in the US, they still don’t know exactly where the produce or whatever came from. They are currently saying watch out for raw vegetables, particularly leafy greens.
But we should also note, cyclosporiasis, the illness caused by cyclospora, has had outbreaks occurring in the US every year since they started to track it in 2000.
Most notable were an outbreak in 2005 in Florida which was from poop infected basil imported from Peru.
Since then, there have also been a rise of cases. In 2016 they averaged 500 cases, but it jumped up to 3500 in 2018. The previous record for number of outbreaks in a year occurred in 2019. 2023 had about 3000 confirmed cases. And to put it plainly this isn’t a new thing. It is however the worst outbreak of it they have ever seen. As of now there are somewhere near 7000 cases across the country. But, the Cyclospora cases tend to continue to pop up through August and September, and they anticipate the whole outbreak to be about 27 times worse than last year.
The CDC issued a warning related to vegetable and hard to scrub berries. What’s really funny is the way in which already diarrhea accused brands are trying to get out in front of it. There are many Taco Bells who have begun putting up warnings in their establishments saying there will not be lettuce or other veggie offerings until the end of the outbreak. I love that Taco Bell is like, we have GOT to get ahead of this PR nightmare… we have to disassociate our brand from diarrhea.
–
It would also do well to take a moment to describe the nature of this diarrhea. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases defines diarrhea as passing loose or watery stools three or more times a day. Which, ok, that doesn’t sound so bad. Three loose stools a day could hardly be constituted as a problem right? …right?
However cyclospora diarrhea is not like other diarrhea. It is described as very watery and intense. This is bad because it can also come on suddenly. Because of this, by the time the symptoms run their course, a person can have a loss of appetite, lose weight. It is often accompanied by stomachaches and cramps. In severe cases the person may even have a low fever and throw up, though this is uncommon.
I should note, I’m not a doctor, but if you believe you are exhibiting these symptoms and you have the cha chas for more than a couple days, you should call your doctor. When you do, to determine if you are a lucky host of the parasite, you will be asked to provide a stool sample. Pooping in a bag for science.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclospora_cayetanensis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclospora_(genus)
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/diarrhea/definition-facts
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/07/14/authorities-investigate-taco-bell-lettuce-multistate-cyclosporiasis-outbreak/
