{"id":72708,"date":"2026-07-03T21:07:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T01:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=72708"},"modified":"2026-07-03T21:07:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T01:07:34","slug":"a-microscopic-parasite-making-waves-across-the-country-has-now-been-identified-in-florida-according-to-public-health-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/07\/03\/a-microscopic-parasite-making-waves-across-the-country-has-now-been-identified-in-florida-according-to-public-health-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"A microscopic parasite making waves across the country has now been identified in Florida, according to public health officials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cyclospora cayetanensis<\/strong>, a microscopic parasite causing an outbreak of the intestinal illness cyclosporiasis<\/strong> across at least 17 states, including Florida.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of early July 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health officials are tracking hundreds of cases nationwide.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to Know About the Outbreak<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The Cause:<\/strong> Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal illness caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with the Cyclospora<\/em> parasite. In the U.S., outbreaks during the spring and summer months are historically linked to imported fresh produce (like raspberries, basil, cilantro, or snow peas), though a specific food source for this current cluster has not yet been pinpointed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Symptoms:<\/strong> The most common symptom is intense, watery diarrhea that can last for days to several weeks if untreated. Other common signs include loss of appetite, severe stomach cramps, bloating, nausea, and fatigue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Scope:<\/strong> Public health officials have identified over 145 domestic cases, with a heavy concentration in states like Michigan and New York, and a handful of confirmed cases in Florida. Because many people recover without being tested, officials note the actual number is likely much higher.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    How to Protect Yourself<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Because the parasite is famously resistant to chlorine, washing produce in standard tap water isn’t always enough to completely remove it. Health officials recommend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Scrub and Wash:<\/strong> Thoroughly wash all fresh fruits and vegetables under running water, scrubbing firm produce with a clean brush.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Cook or Inspect:<\/strong> Cooking completely destroys the parasite.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. See a Doctor:<\/strong> If you experience prolonged, watery diarrhea or severe abdominal cramping, mention Cyclospora<\/em> to your healthcare provider, as it requires a specific stool test and a targeted course of antibiotics to clear up efficiently.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Cyclospora cayetanensis, a microscopic parasite causing an outbreak of the intestinal illness cyclosporiasis across at least 17 states, including Florida. As of early July 2026, the Centers for Disease Control… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDdcL2ltYWdlcy0xLTEud2VicD9maXQ9NzM4JTJDMzY5JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiQSBtaWNyb3Njb3BpYyBwYXJhc2l0ZSBtYWtpbmcgd2F2ZXMgYWNyb3NzIHRoZSBjb3VudHJ5IGhhcyBub3cgYmVlbiBpZGVudGlmaWVkIGluIEZsb3JpZGEsIGFjY29yZGluZyB0byBwdWJsaWMgaGVhbHRoIG9mZmljaWFscyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.ZtFes2jqz4dtfbS9IuIx-nFXnOQOYGFzKP1PNhXNKHEMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA3XC9pbWFnZXMtMS0xLndlYnAiLCJ0eHQiOiJBIG1pY3Jvc2NvcGljIHBhcmFzaXRlIG1ha2luZyB3YXZlcyBhY3Jvc3MgdGhlIGNvdW50cnkgaGFzIG5vdyBiZWVuIGlkZW50aWZpZWQgaW4gRmxvcmlkYSwgYWNjb3JkaW5nIHRvIHB1YmxpYyBoZWFsdGggb2ZmaWNpYWxzIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.cPPLflWxaqCJFPgCRMNyXhf8j4qRZLzWDQpKLrdX84EMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[6481],"tags":[15096,15097],"class_list":["post-72708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-a-microscopic-parasite-making-waves-across-the-country-has-now-been-identified-in-florida","tag-according-to-public-health-officials"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72711,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72708\/revisions\/72711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}