‘Explosive diarrhoea’ outbreak grips US: how researchers are hunting its source. The CDC's parasite surveillance team dropped from 11 to 3 people last year, complicating efforts to track down what is now the largest Cyclospora outbreak in US history.

1545 points by maxkozlov 4 hours ago on reddit | 83 comments

SiriusHijinks | 3 hours ago

I just bought a bunch of lettuce, and plan to eat a salad from each until I get explosive diarrhea. Then I'll tell everyone which lettuce brand did me wrong. More citizen researchers are needed.

Lunar-opal | 3 hours ago

Make sure to write down where the lettuce was grown so we know who to blame

Inspect1234 | 3 hours ago

This ranks right up with “I did my own research”. If you eliminate regulations then you go back to the original problem that the reg took care of.

Lunar-opal | 2 hours ago

Well regulations have been eliminated so folks are left to fighting’s out on their own

aculady | 2 hours ago

It can take over a week to develop symptoms, which is part of what is complicating this.

If you really want to help the science along, keep a food diary, take samples of literally everything you eat and label them with the exact source and date, and throw them in your home freezer in separate ziplock bags, and when you develop symptoms, once your diagnosis is confirmed, provide the investigators with the samples from the relevant time period.

Spork_Warrior | an hour ago

“Are you shitting me?”

“Not yet. But maybe in two weeks!”

Loud-Difficulty7860 | an hour ago

Fyi it can take a week or more for the symptoms to disclose themselves to your toilet in what will not be a private conversation

monstrol | 3 hours ago

Fucking Brilliant!

vocalfreesia | 29 minutes ago

Legitimately, some kind of citizen crowd sourcing might be the only way to get around the Republicans at this point.

MycoCozmic | 4 hours ago

It’s nice to feel like a Third World country again. We’ve been American exceptionalists for too long. Time to let the world know that our shit still runs and stinks.

sandmanwake | 2 hours ago

Make America Shitty Again

kinetik | 57 minutes ago

Yes. MASA 💩

Trimshot | 3 hours ago

“Feel”

WowIfOnly | an hour ago

It's funny how livid all the MAGA apologists get when someone says the US isn't a First World country anymore. Say it louder.

Nervous-Muffin-6691 | an hour ago

Yea cause it’s not true. Have you been to a third world country? America isn’t perfect but far from a 3rd world country.

MojaveMojito1324 | 39 minutes ago

Also because 1st world originally meant "aligned with the US during the cold war"

People love to that term around as a ranking system, but that's really not what the origin of the term is at all

irritableOwl3 | 23 minutes ago

People are dying from lack of healthcare, it happens every day. And we have the highest maternal death rate of all first world countries. We have the highest income inequality.

saul2015 | an hour ago

America hasn't been a first world country since neoliberalism took over in the 80s

[OP] maxkozlov | 4 hours ago

>A microscopic parasite found in contaminated food products is ruining summer meals across the United States in the largest outbreak of its kind in the country’s history. And health officials have yet to identify the source, although the state of Michigan, which has reported the highest number of infections, has signalled that lettuce or salad greens might be the culprit.

>Since 1 May, 1,645 infections with the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis have been confirmed, and more than 5,100 further cases are under investigation. These figures — which have accumulated in just a few weeks — have quickly surpassed the total number of cases typically seen in a year, says Joel Barratt, a molecular parasitologist at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 100 people with Ccayetanensis infections have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

>One issue that is probably impeding the investigation is that “the number of staff working on these outbreaks is not what it used to be”, says Barratt, who worked at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta for eight years and led the parasite surveillance team there. Barratt left the agency ten months ago, after the administration of US President Donald Trump fired employees or encouraged them to leave in a bid to downsize the government.

>Nature spoke to Barratt and Jitender Dubey, a microbiologist at the US Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland, to learn more about the outbreak and how health officials are responding.

--

Here's an excerpt of the story. I'm the reporter who wrote the story. As always, I'm keen to hear if there's anything I missed, or if you have anything else that you think should be on my radar. My Signal is mkozlov.01. You can stay anonymous. Happy to answer any questions about how I reported this story too!

PS: If you hit the paywall, make a free account. It should let you read the full story.

fragglebags | 3 hours ago

Awesome work, thank you so much for your contribution!

Salute-Major-Echidna | 3 hours ago

You know it's in the water, not the food, right?

toebeanlove | 2 hours ago

Wasn’t the issue that the contaminated water was sprayed on said food?

Salute-Major-Echidna | 2 hours ago

And that is one reason why it's confusing the issue

Kahnza | 2 hours ago

There's water and food

senditloud | 3 hours ago

Everything Trump touches turns to shit

nankerjphelge | 3 hours ago

Republicans defund and break the government, then point to the resultant dysfunction and say "see, we told you government doesn't work!"

big_trike | 3 hours ago

And yet, spending is still up because they increased ICE and "Department of War" spending more than they cut from elsewhere.

DocumentExternal6240 | 3 hours ago

Literally…💩

Waschaos | 2 hours ago

Yes literally and it's explosive now too.

vorpal_hare | 2 hours ago

He probably won't even suffer the repercussions himself because he's not just surrounded by people monitoring his food, he also doesn't eat any damn fruits or vegetables.

rustylugnuts | 34 minutes ago

Hopefully I won't catch the trump dumps.

DeadbeatJohnson | 3 hours ago

Thank a republican

Rage-With-Me | 3 hours ago

Oh no, I thought it was called Trumpiarrhoea.

AdhesivenessCivil581 | 3 hours ago

It is. In my many decades here we've never had a food borne illness that took more than a couple of weeks to identify the source. Thanks trump for making our asses feel the way that our hearts do.

deathtech00 | an hour ago

Missed opportunity for "Donnyrhea"

Not mine, from another thread, but it has zazz

stilettopanda | 3 hours ago

He just wanted us to shit our pants too.

monstrol | 3 hours ago

Spit take.... HA!

licensed2jill | 3 hours ago

Key component of MAHA plan to reduce obesity in America! It's really a good thing, will be announced in days.

Glum_Material3030 | 3 hours ago

I wish this was a sarcastic comment but as someone who works with MAHA “scientists” they literally would say this is a perk of the situation.

RogLatimer118 | 2 hours ago

I'm surprised we still have a parasite surveillance team.

aculady | 2 hours ago

We only have about a quarter of one, really.

Alternative-Key-5647 | an hour ago

>The CDC's parasite surveillance team dropped from 11 to 3 people

No it didn't just passively drop, they were fired by that idiot Trump

OkLevel2791 | 3 hours ago

Year two of the Depends Donald’s shit storm is headlines of Explosive Diarrhea spreading.

Fmartins84 | 3 hours ago

So the dewormer I heard about on tiktok won't work...?! /s

narnach | 2 hours ago

It only works on true MAGA.

sf-keto | 2 hours ago

[ Removed by Reddit ]

FeffyFefernuson | 2 hours ago

The money that paid their salaries went into Trump's pocket.

The US was a complete laughing stock during the first Trump term. I don't even have the words to describe how bad it is now.

klineshrike | 55 minutes ago

This is all because diaper donny didnt want to be the only one shitting himself in public

bluenoser613 | 3 hours ago

Sweet, sweet karma.

Careful-Sell-9877 | 2 hours ago

Its the raw meat and raw milk and raw everything trend

Lost-Platypus8271 | 51 minutes ago

raw bootyhole

rustajb | 2 hours ago

Hey, if shitting your pants is good enough for the imperial leader, it's good enough for us peons. They just want everybody to smell as fragrant and aromatic as the orange Yaldabaoth of Holy America.

fifthstreetsaint | an hour ago

The team "dropped" from 11 to 3 huh? Wonder why that is

J_Kelly11 | an hour ago

Wow what a surprise the proper organizations can’t do their job correctly because trump cut funding/jobs. We will see more outbreaks and other issues because we didn’t see them coming/can’t properly deal with them

BreadfruitLatter556 | an hour ago

Are you great yet?

JediKrys | an hour ago

I love this for you guys. Best of luck

postulatej | 3 hours ago

yep this is due to republican/Trump voters. They probably won't catch it as that would cut into their meth and fentanyl habits.

pukeblood213 | 2 hours ago

That would be bad for me

millionsofbubbles | 2 hours ago

Trumparrhea?

Loud-Difficulty7860 | an hour ago

Trumporrea

CubaHorus91 | an hour ago

Man… RFK’s Cocaine sure doing a number on us.

padeye242 | an hour ago

Learn something new everyday.

mdcbldr | an hour ago

Somehow the words "grip" and "explosive diarrhoea" dont seem appropriate here. These poor people don't have a grip on it at all.

billystinkh20 | an hour ago

I hear it's being called Trumparrhea

panic_talking | an hour ago

Trump probably loves it. Less people talking about epstien, the war, the pool, mitch being dead.

Unlucky_Reveal_3064 | an hour ago

I love this for them 💩

ManBro89 | 44 minutes ago

Stock up on Gatorade, shit's gonna sell out!

Dapper-Comment-682 | 28 minutes ago

if we don’t test for it then we just won’t have it ! …… brb i gotta run to the bathroom ..

./s

beeskneessidecar | 27 minutes ago

This is what happens when evil idiots are given power.

No-Faithlessness4090 | 27 minutes ago

Does the usage of the word ‘grips’ in this headline feel like a joke to anyone else?

PennytheWiser215 | 24 minutes ago

First it was COVID, then it was measles, now it’s explosive diarrhea. I can’t wait for next season’s major health issue.

explosivelydehiscent | 22 minutes ago

The MAHA trots

Maga squirts - now our toilets resemble our leaders, sans the rape.

klamaire | 9 minutes ago

MAGA Morons destroying the country, one new outbreak at a time.

Lunar-opal | 3 hours ago

Just hire some more folks for the cdc for shitting out loud we’re gonna have a toilet paper shortage

UndergroundCreek | 3 hours ago

Usually public health puts a lid on it pretty quickly, no? I'm not from the US but it appears as if there's measures been taken.

Glum_Material3030 | 3 hours ago

That was before the Trump administration fired so many scientists

Lunar-opal | 3 hours ago

In the past

aculady | 2 hours ago

The Trump Administration, in its infinite wisdom, fired almost the entire federal public health team that is responsible for identifying the source of outbreaks like this.

Our current Secretary of Health and Human Services, the man ostensibly at the head of public health in the US right now, doesn't even believe in contagion or germ theory, prefering "miasma" theory. He literally eats road kill and swims in sewage contaminated water. He literally ordered the government to stop tracking this specif8c parasite, along with several other common sources of food-borne illness, so the only things the government routinely tracks now are Salmonella and shiga-toxin-producing E. coli.

TwoFlower68 | an hour ago

terrain theory, niet miasma theory

aculady | an hour ago

Kennedy himself calls what he believes "miasma theory" in a published book.

Lost-Platypus8271 | 49 minutes ago

Not when you fire all the staff like Trump did last year