Health Officials: Cyclospora Diarrhea Outbreak Tied to Prepackaged Salad

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health today released a statement indicating that they believe they have narrowed down the cause of this month's cyclospora parasitic diarrhea outbreak to one common cause:

It was the romaine mix! (dramatic music)

Update on Iowa Cyclospora Illness Outbreak (Iowa Department of Public Health)

A prepackaged salad mix has been implicated as the source of the cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 100 Iowans last month, the State’s top food inspector said today.

Steven Mandernach, chief of the Food and Consumer Safety Bureau of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals (DIA), said epidemiological data and food history interviews conducted with ill Iowans links a bagged salad mix with the foodborne illness.

“The evidence points to a salad mix containing iceberg and romaine lettuce, as well as carrots and red cabbage as the source of the outbreak reported in Iowa and Nebraska,” Mandernach said, adding: “Iowans should continue eating salads as the implicated prepackaged mix is no longer in the state’s food supply chain.”

Once epidemiological results from the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) was provided to DIA, the Department’s food inspection staff traced potential products through the food distribution and production system. DIA’s investigation found an exposure to a common prepackaged salad mix from a single source in approximately 80 percent of the cases.

“Additionally, food histories are challenging as individuals do not always remember the foods eaten during the past several weeks,” Mandernach added.

Linn County led the state with having the dubious distinction with the most cyclospora cases reported (at 30).  The food-borne disease if untreated could cause liquid diarrhea and stomach cramps for almost two months. Although the outbreak was first spotted in Iowa, it spread to other states such as Nebraska, Texas, and Wisconsin and has since reached a total of 16 states.