ABSTRACT
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a few reports described cases of gastroenteritis caused by an unknown organism in travelers returning from developing countries. It was also identied as a cause of diarrhea in children and adults of these countries. These structures were called coccidian-like bodies, cyanobacteria-like organisms, etc. Their characteristics were similar to Cryptosporidium, another Apicomplexan parasite that also affects children and travelers. In 1992, Ortega et al. characterized and named this organism as Cyclospora cayetanensis. Although some reports described Cyclospora as a causative agent of travelers’ diarrhea, in 1995 the rst U.S. outbreak of Cyclospora occurred in nontravelers. Since then, several Cyclospora outbreaks were linked to imported berries and vegetables that were consumed raw. This chapter describes the biology of Cyclospora, its epidemiology, detection, pathogenesis, prevention, and their major implications in food trade.
