ABSTRACT
Every year, in the U.S., we have foodborne outbreaks associated with the consumption of fresh produce and berries. Cyclospora cayetanensis has been responsible for some of these. Cyclospora is a coccidian parasite that causes gastrointestinal illness in humans. It has unique characteristics that differentiate it from other parasites that affect humans. Initially, it was considered a disease in tropical and developing countries and of travelers returning from these endemic locations. Outbreaks and sporadic cases of cyclosporiasis identified in the U.S. indicate that cyclosporiasis could also be domestically acquired. This occurs through the consumption of contaminated imported products. However, in recent years, cases have been linked to foods grown in the U.S.
This chapter discusses the characteristics of Cyclospora cayetanensis, from biology, clinical presentation, epidemiology, new and evolving detection methods, from oocyst recovery from the food matrices to molecular detection and advances in genotyping for traceback studies. treatment. The challenges of working and researching this parasite are also discussed.
