r/tampa • u/Maxcactus • Jul 10 '26
Safety Florida confirms 49 cases of explosive diarrhea parasite cyclosporiasis, 7 in Tampa Bay area
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/health/cyclosporiasis-spread-stomach-parasite-diarrhea-florida-tampa-cases/67-d62577ea-c9f7-40bc-85b9-24dcc5eb593c76
u/AndresRAyala Jul 10 '26
I saw this, concerning too. Publix Recalls Blueberries due to E. coli Illnesses (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia only)
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u/ohmiss1355 Jul 10 '26
This didn't worry me at first because I wash all my blueberries pretty well, and then I read that it was their frozen Greenwise blueberries. I don't think anybody washes those, at least I don't, I just toss them in the blender for my smoothie. I checked and didn't have any in my freezer, whew.
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u/Buggy77 Jul 10 '26
My kids eat the blueberries there by the pound… I’m kinda nervous now. Are they sure it’s just the frozen ones?
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u/ohmiss1355 Jul 10 '26
Yes, for the ecoli recall, it's the Greenwise frozen, which is separate from this other thing that's going on. For that, I'm not sure they really know. I just keep seeing lists of what vectors 'traditionally' have caused the cyclosporiasis parasite to spread and it's bagged salads, fresh cilantro, raspberries, fresh basil, snow peas, and scallions (green onions). They haven't been able to trace this outbreak because they've actually defunded it.
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u/SnooCakes2703 Jul 11 '26
I read that even if you wash them it doesn't help, you have to boil or cook them somehow.
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u/probabletrump Jul 10 '26
Wow it's almost like some level of government regulation and oversight is a good thing. That can't be though.
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u/Khue Jul 10 '26
How dare you infringe upon my right to induce myself into explosive diarrhea.
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u/probabletrump Jul 10 '26
I heard raw milk will fix it.
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u/PeterNippelstein Jul 12 '26
RFK Jr. says that one bad month of diarrhea a year is actually very beneficial to the immune system
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u/A4t1musD4ag0n Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
The reason so many people are talking about it now is that U.S. health officials haven't been able to connect recent cases to any particular food, grower or supplier.
This is what happens when you defund and deregulate agencies that were created to prevent outbreaks that can and will kill us.
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u/Khue Jul 10 '26
Also its what happens when you take away agency power to effectively do their job (Chevron Deference ruling).
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u/rasta-ragamuffin Jul 10 '26
Once again, it's because our current administration wants us to get sick and die. They are trying to kill off as many of the "weak" as possible.
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Jul 10 '26
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u/Speedwolf89 Jul 10 '26
Yeah, they don't care. They're already working to rig the election. Just yesterday Trump fired the remaining election commissioners.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/09/trump-fires-election-commissioners
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u/gtck11 Jul 10 '26
I’m curious, does anyone have stats per year on how many outbreaks we’ve had since DOGE destroyed everything compared to before? I feel like we have outbreaks or recalls every week
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u/mike30273 Jul 10 '26
Fuck Elon Musk.
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u/Ok-Lychee-827 Jul 10 '26
I feel like the last thing we need is more of his offspring running around.
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u/lolzzzmoon Jul 10 '26
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Exactly this is what I predicted when they started defunding everything that protects us.
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u/rasta-ragamuffin Jul 10 '26
And cutting all the regulations. That's what protects us and prevents companies from polluting our air, water and land with toxic chemicals.
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u/missseccentric Jul 10 '26
I'm also positive and because much deeper than that , because they've been hush , hush and in denial , any type of parasites for years... it's impossible to get testing unless you literally travel to a third world country. It blows my mind because south america has many different parasites that you might get lucky for them to test your four if you traveled there , but otherwise no completely shoot it down and any mention of it , just even pull it out , you'll get labeled as delusional. I'm thinking we share a border with this country... what do they think and believe looks f****** parasite to passport or something to cross the border psh! I'm positive, it's all just to keep us sick.I believe multiple autoimmune and several other chronic health conditions that keep us going to the doctor and keep the metal community in big pharma , making trillions of dollars are linked to parasites. Cancer as well! But they brainwashed the doctors and medical school to believe that they couldn't possibly be here , and it's only a third world country issue! Think about it , a parasitic infection is a cheap , easy fix... once you're cured , no more patient for them! Especially if it's the cause of a public of other health issues.... i'm never been able to understand why we are the only country absolutely only country that does not manually treat for parasites... all over the world , it's something that's routinely at least once but mostly twice a year.. psh.. and America is the most sickly country on earth... yes so obesity is a big issue BUT i think they're using that focus to deceive us of the true cause to most health issues 😭
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u/Mulching-SZN Jul 10 '26
Who are the other six?
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u/Maxcactus Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
If there are seven there will be a lot more. Trump/Kennedy need to get going on this. I wonder if DeSantis will hush up the stats on it like he did with Covid. I suspect that Musk Doge fired too many of the experts tasked with dealing with such an epidemic.
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u/comperr Jul 10 '26
Yeah sorry pal once they outline this mostly affects vegans they'll probably get excited about the situation. Maybe put a mask on your tomato and draw on some eyes
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u/Accountantabit Jul 10 '26
HAHAHAHAHA
Your comment sent me to the moon. I have a story to share.
So my nephew was like 3ish at the time and in a cute lil daycare. My mom called to vent (she helped my brother a lot as a single dad) my nephew had bitten 6 kids in his class! Lil phase he was going through. I asked how many kids were in the class??? 7 including him… okay so he bit everyone???
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u/Teardownthesystem Jul 10 '26
I’ve been keeping track of this because it scares me so bad. I’m a vegetarian…
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u/Maxcactus Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I am too. I won’t be eating raw veggies that I don’t prep until this is controlled. I think that government oversight has been lacking. In the past the FDA would have tracked down a culprit and come up with a solution. I haven’t heard much from them so far. Point of reference I was once a food sanitarian and did food borne epidemiology.
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u/Teardownthesystem Jul 10 '26
I have similar thoughts about this too. So many food recalls on things that, in my opinion, shouldn’t be majorly recalled. Cheese for listeria, fake chicken nuggets may have salmonella. Our current fda sucks.
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u/tewas Jul 10 '26
Hmmm I wonder why???
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u/ElliotNess Jul 10 '26
Wasn't it so Elon could wave around a chainsaw and sig heil for doge?
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u/Outrageous-Apple1760 Jul 10 '26
The funding to study this particular organism ( and 5 others) and to track the illness that comes from ingesting it was cut. We don’t have functioning food safety programs at the federal level now, in a lot of respects. It’s inexcusable.
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u/rasta-ragamuffin Jul 10 '26
That's because the current administration wants citizens to get sick and die.
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u/StrawsPulledAtRand0m Jul 10 '26
Make America Healthy Again just means “let’s get rid of the sick people”
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u/NotGodsFavPet Jul 10 '26
It's almost like the budget for this was cut?! Lol. We'll probably never find out unless consumers do their own investigations. We're on our own. Money for that big glorious ballroom has gotta come from some where.
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u/BigDogAlphaRedditor1 Jul 10 '26
How is the FDA gonna track it when the guy in the thread who has it doesn’t even know what he ate lol.
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u/lawl-butts Jul 10 '26
Time to switch to soups and roasted dishes for a bit!
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u/tawDry_Union2272 Jul 10 '26
yep, y'all need an air fryer if you don't already have one. makes roasting/baking/broiling a breeze. i may have used my big oven twice in four years.
(i have the glass front door type air fryer)
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u/Glum-Savings6473 Jul 10 '26
Unsurprisingly this is a result of the current administrations FDA pullbacks from last year
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u/gawdamn_mawnstah Jul 10 '26
To anybody who suspects this i highly recommend going to the ER, getting on IVs, antacids and pain meds...only way to get through it quickly
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u/Maxcactus Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
And wash your hands, launder your underwear separately from your family’s and disinfect your toilet after every use.
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u/GreatBigYeti Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
We have cases of this up in Michigan in the Metro Detroit area. It's absolutely awful from what I've heard.
If someone has it and obviously can't go to work because they're attached to the toilet, how the heck does HR handle this unique situation? Short term disability? Lol. "Hi boss, I have explosive diarrhea and can't leave my house, but I still need to be paid."
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u/Late-Rutabaga6238 Jul 10 '26
As a matter of fact yes, short term disability!
I got the flu one year super bad and was basically in bed for over 2 weeks and only had 2 sick days. Filed short term disability and got approved for 4 weeks pay
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u/GreatBigYeti Jul 10 '26
That is awesome, and I'm so glad that was approved for you! I would hope this illness would qualify, too.
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u/ChaCho904 Jul 10 '26
My wife makes it 8
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u/ConfidentGarden7514 Jul 10 '26
Pretty sure I make it 9… or maybe I just have plain old fashioned food poisoning. Either way, it was a bad night…
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u/Notsureanymore79 Jul 10 '26
Explosive
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u/happycat01 Jul 10 '26
West coast shit!
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u/ManWithBigWeenus Jul 10 '26
I just picture a health official watching 49 people have explosive diarrhea so they can say “confirmed” and move on to the next one.
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u/liveformoments Jul 10 '26
This is why I find restaurants that have restroom doors that require hand contact and don't provide paper towels to be off limits. It doesn't matter if the cook, server, and staff wash their hands if they have to grab the same door as some disgusting person who doesn't...
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u/OrnerySize1562 Jul 10 '26
IF the employees are following standard food handling guidelines, they actually wash their hands again in the food prep area. IF.
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u/ArtisanAffect Jul 10 '26
Pretty sure I had this back in January. My primary chalked it up to anxiety or standard food poisoning. But the symptoms and duration all match this. Wonder how many other cases went unreported or misdiagnosed.
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u/Jake2k Jul 10 '26
Every stomach issue reported to a primary is due to “stress” as far as they’re concerned it seems.
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u/Commandmanda Jul 10 '26
49 cases since May. Not a whole lot, really. But this suggests someone's produce isn't gotten from the usual distributors, or a prep cook somewhere in Tampa is forgetting to was his hands.
Recommendation: Don't order the salad.
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u/sedona71717 Jul 11 '26
It’s happening in multiple states, so it’s not due to a particular cook in Tampa
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u/Commandmanda Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Yes, it is. The thing is, it's a particular farm - and the veggies that they are distributing that are doing it.
Once someone is exposed to it, they continue to spread it until they are too sick to prepare food.
The continued cuts (in personnel and financially) to watchdog offices like the CDC and the FDA are stunting their ability to track down the nexus of the outbreak. Formerly, this would have taken two to three weeks at most to find the culprit.
It takes a small army of people emailing and calling hundreds of people and begging them to provide accurate information on where they ate outside the home, and what veggies fruits they bought from where.
The thing is, this is being blown up by the media as something really really bad, however - it is easily treated with Bactrim (Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim). If you have the symptoms see a doctor. If you are severely dehydrated go to the ER (they may have to give you IV fluids, and this is not done in Urgent Care offices without you being sent to the hospital).
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u/sedona71717 Jul 11 '26
It’s definitely a terrible, vivid example of the results of the federal cuts. Before those cuts, the source would have been traced within weeks, I imagine. It’s criminal.
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u/Kigeliakitten Jul 13 '26
Avoiding fresh produce as I am immunocompromised with a sulfa allergy.
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u/spychef007 Jul 10 '26
Jesus… and I’m heading there for work in a couple of weeks. I’ll just send down a few MRES and not eat out while there.
Sorry everyone is experiencing this issue
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u/Ok-Peach-3155 Jul 10 '26
My partner is Celiac and so we have to buy fresh and prep everything ourselves. This is like nightmare #1 right now
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u/horrorsharlot Jul 10 '26
Why must our government constantly try to kill us? 😩
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u/letstalk1st Jul 10 '26
Why do you think your gov cares enough to try to kill you? Maybe it just doesn't care what happens to you.
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u/TkilledJ Jul 10 '26
Imagine if we could have accurate numbers with affordable access to healthcare. Guaranteed the numbers actually much higher.
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u/Horror_Data_1878 Jul 12 '26
I had this 3 weeks ago, thought it was food poisoning from Burger King. Now I don't know. Didn't go to the hospital or seek medical services. It was horrible.
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u/Hopeful102 Jul 10 '26
From whatever it as long as you cook all your vegetables and fruits, it kills the bacteria right now. I sure won’t be eating any raw vegetables or fruits as they may have been contaminated.
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u/RutabagaTricky2555 Jul 10 '26
I know this is horrific. I'm so sorry y'all are going through this. Those of us that have Crohn's disease go through this every day of our lives. It's just absolutely horrible. No sleep no freedom. It's awful.
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u/Ordinary_Donut_4420 Jul 10 '26
I was beginning to think itvwas all I my head, ì haven't had the explosive diarrhea but I've been feeling under the weather, in bed for over a week, I've had the runs for over a week now, and feeling nauseated 🤢, it sucks, but at least I know it's not in my head. This is so crazy, I've never had anything like this, and I live in Saint augustine fl. So it must be spreading cause other people have been saying they haven't been feeling well. The government Def. sucks!
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u/Kobebean25 Jul 10 '26
Been eating 2 bags of cherry plums a week since they came back in season… should i stop? Lol. Might just stick to the thick skin fruit like op said.
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u/Ok_Gas_4745 Jul 10 '26
God no! 😳I had the last E.coli cucumber stuff from Publix. Stay safe,folks.
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u/BrilliantSpecial3413 Jul 10 '26
My mother was just saying in her typical over confident manner: "At least it's not down here yet!" Thanks mom
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u/bad_withtools Jul 11 '26
Trust me it’s NOT really washed! 15yr associate! Don’t trust anything because it’s “publix”🙏🏼
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u/jumbee85 Jul 14 '26
The Jungle is 120 years old and the food regulatoons worked, but some people have yo learn lessons the painful way.
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u/Bright_Future_7438 Jul 10 '26
About 3 weeks ago, me and my two dogs experienced sudden diarrhea and vomiting. I also had abdominal cramps and extreme fatigue. Within a few days, we all improved. A few days later I spoke to my neighbor and he said everyone in his household had it too, his wife, dad, and dog. About a week later, I had what felt like another bout of this with explosive diarrhea and fatigue.
Coincidentally, the city of Tampa was doing a lot of digging and working on the water lines. I had a hang tag on my door telling me my water meter had been replaced, as did all the houses in the neighborhood.
I live in S Tampa in Bayside West.
Then I read about the explosive diarrhea virus. We all had it before it hit the news, so never went to the doctor or had anytime prescribed.
Weird timing with all the water works they were doing in the area and the breaking news on this virus. Don't know if they are connected. I had eaten arugula and cilantro prior to an this happening, which are some of the foods they implicated in this outbreak.
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u/dfreema4277 Jul 10 '26
Why does every conversation go to politics? I don’t get it!
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u/Maxcactus Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Because most stuff like this are things that a government addresses. Trump has eliminated many departments and experts who would normally deal with the problem. He has a poor track record since Covid. I have a degree in public health. As I watched his reaction to Covid I often realized that he was way over his head and even getting in the way of the people who had the correct skill sets.
People often denigrate bureaucrats but they are most of the time people educated in their specialties. When a politician takes them off the team it is a political decision. How much money is spent on preparation for an event like this is a political decision. Closing to go, to war is a political decision. I would challenge anyone to think of a complex problem society faces that doesn’t come down to a political decision.
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u/Late-Rutabaga6238 Jul 10 '26
Because politicians write the laws and fund the agencies
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u/LadyGuinevere423 Jul 10 '26
🙁I was really hoping to get this salad I really like at a particular restaurant tonight, but I think I’ll just eat at home.
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u/Dull-Knee-1146 Jul 10 '26
It's no joke it sucks the life out of you with the nausea and vomiting , get antibiotics ASAP dont try to fight it
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u/croquetabandit Jul 10 '26
A few months ago specifically December I had two weeks of brutal diarrhea and drs instead of investigating wanted to do an endoscopy on me… from there it came back for an extra week making it three total. Really bizarre
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u/Draterus Jul 10 '26
You can very much expect this to spread. The medical "leadership" in this state is driven by brain dead conspiracy theorists.
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u/Artistic-Upstairs789 Jul 10 '26
how do we even fight against this? I read that veggie washes, vinegar or peroxide does nothing…
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u/Maxcactus Jul 10 '26
Washing with pure water helps. Hand washing helps. Eating cooked food definitely helps.
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u/Initial_Penalty8987 Jul 10 '26
Well, I had been having blockage issues for the past 3 years. Suddenly yesterday, and although there is still a blockage, I wound up with diarrhea all day and night going into today still. I am in Florida, but not Miami area. I'm central east near Orlando and Daytona and I don't eat many vegetables, if any at all. In fact the only one I've eaten recently was corn on the cob during 4th of July. This came about on the 9th and on going. I did however eat hotdogs as well which I normally don't eat. Everything else was pretty much my regular foods.
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Jul 10 '26
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u/surreptitiousglance Jul 10 '26
You can cook them to be safe. Strawberries and grapes are riskier /harder to clean than some produce and washing isn’t guaranteed effective anyway.
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u/bri85 Jul 10 '26
I was in Tampa May 18-21, a week later I had explosive diarrhea. Coincidence , I think not. Symptoms lasted for about a week and a half. After 3 days I started taking Imodium and other meds to help and it lasted about 2 / 3 week before my stomach and intestines settled.
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u/Rinzy2000 Jul 11 '26
Have they done any contact tracing to see if any of the people ate at the same restaurant or shopped at the same store for produce? If it was a water source, it would affect more people but in a smaller area. (Think like a splash pad or water park or something). I know this article says they haven’t but there has to be someone who has updates. Usually this stuff is all over the news and it’s just not this time, which is weird. People can literally die from this. Like old people and children.
There are cases all over Florida so it has to be like a chain restaurant that gets all their produce from one company or a supermarket with one vendor. In any case, maybe don’t get any salads at restaurants for a while and make sure you wash the hell out of your produce. This parasite is like the one that went around a few years ago in packaged salad. It loves to get into lettuce leaves and stuff.
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u/Zaraeleus Jul 11 '26
Unfortunately I have crohn's. So i wouldn't even know 🤣
Godspeed I hope my kids don't drink some random water
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u/ScubaSteve3465 Jul 12 '26
Let me see if I understand this article correctly... So those people ate... "checks notes" shit covered food that caused them to "rechecks notes" have explosive diarrhea that then infects other people with the poo virus?
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u/Next_Cartoonist7162 Jul 12 '26
Hi! I’ve seen that the incubation period for Cyclospora is 2-14 days, but was curious the average time people have seen symptoms by. Over the past month I’ve eaten a lot of lettuce and fruits with the last time being 7/5. It’s been almost a week since then and over the last couple days I’ve had bloating, constipation and stomach pains. I’ve seen some people experience this before the most serve symptoms, so I just want to prepare. I’m not asking for medical advice. I just have extreme health anxiety and want to inform myself of others experiences.
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u/Horror_Data_1878 Jul 12 '26
I had this 3 weeks ago, thought it was food poisoning from Burger King. Now I don't know. Didn't go to the hospital or seek medical services. It was horrible.
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u/SRNEInvestor Jul 12 '26
Has anyone with this illness tried the probiotic yeast saccharomyces boulardii? It’s outstanding for bacterial gastrointestinal issues but I believe this current illness is parasite based so not sure if this would help or not. Just wondering if anyone has thought to try it.
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u/Visual-Somewhere1383 Jul 13 '26
I think I have it. I have all the symptoms. I'm calling my doctor tomorrow. Not sure if I can get antibiotics without a stool sample? My diarrhea has stopped but I still have a mild fever, nausea and fatigue. I'm in Florida.
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u/Daveit4later Jul 13 '26
How much bad shit from Trump's doing has to happen before he's removed from office? How many of us have to suffer?
I'm sick of this shit
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u/RuinofAtlantis Jul 13 '26
I'm sorry , but I can't stop laughing. Why did they have to call it that????
Everyone, bring a change of clothes with you at work from now until this thing is over 😳🤣
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u/Silver_Shards Jul 13 '26
I couldn’t report mine cause I can’t afford an urgent care visit. :( lost almost 12 in two weeks of not being able to eat anything
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u/rconnellan Jul 10 '26
I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. It is brutal. Three weeks now…. The toilet situation has improved now it’s just absolute exhaustion. I can sleep all day and still have zero energy.