Short Stuff: Cyclospora | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[music]. >> Hey, and welcome to Short Stuff. I'm. Josh. There's Chuck. Jerry's here. sitting in for [music] Dave. So, this is. a Short Stuff. Let's go. >> That's right. Today we're talking about. the recent. Cyclo- sporiasis outbreak. that everyone heard about. Notably with like tainted lettuce. usually is what you're hearing on the. news and Taco Bell was in the news. because it turns out that the supplier. that they used was seems to have been.

ground zero for this outbreak, but we're. going to explain what Cyclospora is all. about. >> Yeah, it's this outbreak as of August. 13th, which is the latest data we could. find. It's August 20th now, so this is. old. Okay. It's 28,056. people have been sickened with Cyclos-. I'm going to I'm going with. Cyclosporiasis. It sounded like you you. gave the British. pronunciation. >> Sporiasis, yes.

>> [laughter]. >> Yeah, it suddenly sounded like you had. tea in your hand. >> Yeah. >> Um so, 28,000 plus people have been. sickened. Two people have died. And just. a month before it was at 9,481. cases. And you're like, "Wow, it's. that's a lot of people." And it is. This. is actually the third biggest food borne. outbreak in US history. From what anyone could tell, it's the. biggest Cyclospora outbreak in human. history. >> Mhm. >> And. even with those eye-popping stats.

associated with it, that 28,000. case number is probably just a fraction. of the actual number of cases of people. who have gotten sickened by with. Cyclosporiasis. >> Yeah, for sure. I think there are only. 38 states reporting. The. you know, as far as reporting goes, it's. like people who went to the hospital. >> Mhm. >> And a lot of people just like wrote it. out, I'm sure. And then even at the hospital, you have. to have a special test to see if it's. actually that.

and not all the hospitals probably did. that test. So, they probably just treated people for. dehydration and diarrhea. So, it's it's. a much bigger number than that. And let's talk about what this thing is. because it is a not a plant, it's not a. fungus or an animal, it's not a bacteria. or a virus. It is a protozoan. and it's a parasite and the human is the. host. >> Yeah, and it's not brand new, but the. reason we can pretty confidently say. that in all of human history, this is.

the biggest outbreak of Cyclospora is. because the first case that anyone's. ever documented was in like 1978 in. Papua New Guinea. And it's even newer here in the United. States. The first outbreak was in 1995, right? >> Yeah, in Chicago, only 23 cases. Then there was one in Florida the next. year, about 45 cases. Those were raspberries from Guatemala. And every summer basically there was. there's a little something, but nothing.

like we saw this year. They you know, this stuff can live this. protozoan can live in rivers, it lives. in water, drinking water, rivers, lakes, swimming pools. And it likes to hide in. like berries and leafy vegetables cuz. there's lots of little crevices and. nooks and crannies where it won't get. washed out even if you're like rinsing. your stuff. Also on knives and utensils. and also from unwashed hands. >> Gross. >> Very good. >> And like just let's be clear, it passes.

through human sewage. That's that's its. mode of transportation, right? >> So, that means that somebody had. human poop on their knife or their. hands. If that's where you got it. >> Yeah, so. we should talk about the life cycle. because it begins when it enters your. your. It is in what's earliest stage it's an. infectious. uh, oocyst. Did you know how that that's what it was. pronounced?

>> That's the British way pronouncing it. I'm going with oocyst. >> It is oocyst. I actually looked that up. >> Oh. >> Uh, and it is an egg that um, basically. protects it um, from the outside world. until it gets into the the the human. system where it latches onto your gut. and starts a 14 stage life cycle uh, which takes 2 days to 2 weeks uh, to. incubate uh, before it becomes an. infection. >> Yeah, and the reason um, it takes so. long is because that oocyst, is that.

what you said? >> Yeah, with emphasis on the first ooh. >> Ooh. >> Or oocyst, sorry. >> Oocyst. I like ooh ooh cyst. Um, >> [laughter]. >> it's very tough. It's like a tough. container like you said that protects. the actual infectious part and it has to. break down and it's evolved to break. down in the human gut thanks to your. digestive juices and your bile and um, the temperature of your body inside your. gut. All those things come together and. break that oocyst down and now all of.

the sudden four sausage-shaped. sporulates. get dumped out into your gut and start. going to work on essentially making it. really hard for your gut to absorb water. and because your body's trying to poop. the stuff out, you have water butt like. you have never had it before. >> That's right. Uh, and every time you do. poop uh, you pass along up to 10,000. oocysts per cubic centimeter of feces.

>> Hm. >> That's a lot. >> Oooey, gooey feces it says. >> Should we take a break? >> Yeah. >> All right, we'll be right back. >> [music]. >> Burning things with Sean and Josh. >> [music]. >> Stop your. now. >> [music]. [music].

>> All right, so we're back. Uh you said the main symptom is is. really really bad diarrhea yeah, uh. which obviously was going to lead to. uh bad dehydration, like dangerous. dehydration, um and electrolyte imbalances, uh. potential kidney damage risk, um maybe. hospitalization as we've seen, um. up to 10% body weight weight loss.

>> That's nuts. >> That's a lot, uh you know, depending on. who you are, but that's a lot no matter. what because it's 10% of whoever you. are, you know. >> Yeah, what's interesting is there's not. the inflammation or fever that's usually. associated with a a stomach bug. It's. It's just a lot of pooping and the risk. of really bad dehydration and then all. the stuff that comes with that, right? >> That's right. >> So, once you poop that stuff out, it. makes it back into the water supply, it. gets um back into your food stuff as. we'll talk about in a second, and then.

the cycle begins again. And um that's. probably what happened. The the water. supply was used on food crops where. really if you step back and think about. it for even a second, it shouldn't be. >> [laughter]. >> But let's let's talk about Chuck why. this US outbreak in 2026 is the biggest. one the biggest Cyclospora. outbreak in human history. >> Yeah, well, one is a climate change, you. know, with rising temperatures across. the globe. Uh these, you know, I don't.

think we mentioned that this thing used. to be found only in the tropics. >> Right. >> Uh but now these pathogens can be found. elsewhere because of rising temps. Mhm. Uh Uh, the second one and you know, we're not getting political, but this is. just a stone cold fact. Uh, this. presidential administration has cut. funding for food safety programs, including two key ones that might have. stopped this, the Food Emergency. Response Network. Uh, they grant states. funding to test for food pathogens like. this, and FoodNet, which tracks.

outbreak-causing pathogens. And FoodNet specifically, uh, literally. because of a lack of funding, um, stopped tracking six of the eight. pathogens that it used to always track, and Cyclospora is one of those. >> Yep. >> So, you know, that's just. the deal. >> Plus, the federal agencies that are. responsible for basically taking the. lead in guiding, um, health care. providers and, uh, public health. officials and all that stuff throughout. the country just sat on their their.

hands. for months. As a matter of fact, it was. about two full months before the CDC. stepped forward with guidelines, and and. essentially basically really started. talking about this publicly. In the. meantime, this outbreak was bad enough. that somebody had to do something, so. Michigan ended up stepping forward and. filling the role that the CDC was just, um, dropping the ball on. They ended up, um, issuing guidelines and stuff that.

obviously weren't, you know, regulations. or anything, but that other health care. providers in other states were like, "Okay, good. Now I know what to do.". Thanks to the state of Michigan, not the. federal government, which is supposed to. do. And if you put all that together, you're like, "Wow, this happened really. fast." And to me, it gives a picture of. like. the United States built a really. impressive, um, foodborne illness surveillance network. that that was fragile, apparently, but. that really worked. Because if you just.

pull that stuff away, and then this is. the stuff that happens, I think there's. 20 foodborne outbreaks right now going. on in the United States. >> Yeah. >> It's It's. in a way it's really impressive how. effective it was before. >> Yeah, for sure. And boy, hats off to you. Michiganders. >> Mhm. >> for taking the lead on that. Uh one of. the other big reasons is big. agriculture. Uh when it's, you know, something like. that has been consolidated so much, the. industry has, uh that means that, you.

know, Americans are getting their their crops. from just, you know, the same places basically. So, if. something like this happens like. happened at Taylor Farms, uh this was uh. Taylor Farms de Mexico, which was the. agricultural site, even though it's a. California-based company, um all of a. sudden this stuff's going out all over. the country. Um there's also a. Taylor Farms is also uh being identified. as a source of the. other outbreaks. A couple of them, the. salmonella outbreak, um at least from.

jalapeños, I think. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> And for those who don't speak Spanish, Taylor Farms de Mexico means Taylor. Farms of Mexico. >> [laughter]. >> That's right. >> So, and it's not just Mexico or. Guatemala where you're going to find. tainted produce. Um something I was kind. of alluding to earlier is that the. Cyclospora find its way finds its way to. your food crops through human sewage. And that can actually happen in the. United States because.

there are. Let me find it. More than half I think. 27 states allow for treated sewage water. to be used to irrigate food crops. I did not know that. >> I didn't either. Uh nine states don't. have any policy, uh four have. guidelines, and 14 states allow it for. uh crops but not food crops. >> Yeah. >> And, you know, yeah, that's that's where. it's coming from. >> Yes. So, they uh and we did say treated.

sewage waste. >> Yeah, of course. >> Right? So, it's not like they're just. spraying like feces all over your. lettuce. But, essentially, on a microscopic. level, they often are because a lot of. sewage treatment plants aren't set up to. handle Cyclospora because again, this is. not your average bacteria or virus. This. is its own thing. So, the uh oocysts. cysts can make it through onto your um. your lettuce or whatever. Um and then.

also, sometimes those bacteria and the. uh viruses that the sewage treatment. plant is set up to take care of make it. through anyway. So, this is what I was. saying. It seems. pretty smart to just stop using treated. sewage on food crops. >> Yeah, and maybe fund the agencies that. are responsible for keeping track of the. stuff. Would be awesome. >> Yeah. So, if you feel at all like you. should go to the hospital if you have. Cyclospora sprasis right now, or if you. have really bad water but for any.

reason, uh just go. Like, don't risk it, whatever. Um but if you don't want to. get Cyclosporiasis, there are some steps. you can take. Um one of them is at the. very least, wash off all of your stuff. because that can help, but. Cyclosporiasis can still hide, right, Chuck? >> Yeah, I mean, we talked in act one about. the little nooks and crannies and it's, you know, hard to get to sometimes. Uh the only thing to like kill it is to. cook it to 160° F, but you're not cooking your lettuce for.

your taco. >> No, that's great. >> Uh. >> [laughter]. >> That's like the mom in Better Off Dead. who boiled the bacon. >> Yeah, that was a really silly part of. that movie, that whole mom scene. Yeah. Uh stuff that's, you know, like stuff. that has a nice wrapper around it like a. banana or an avocado, you're doing okay. Uh and you know, do plenty of hand. washing, obviously, [music] as well. >> For sure. And if you are on the verge or have. already started an email telling [music]. us how you used to like us before we. became political, just stop. Don't.

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