Outbreak of Cyclosporiasis Associated with Basil in Missouri in 1999

During the summer of 1999, an outbreak of cyclosporiasis occurred among attendees of 2 events held on 24 July in different counties in Missouri. We conducted retrospective cohort studies of the 2 clusters of cases, which comprised 62 case patients. The chicken pasta salad served at one event (relati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical infectious diseases 2001-04, Vol.32 (7), p.1010-1017
Main Authors: Lopez, Adriana S., Dodson, Douglas R., Arrowood, Michael J., Orlandi, Palmer A., da Silva, Alexandre J., Bier, Jeffrey W., Hanauer, Sandra D., Kuster, Rachelle L., Oltman, Sandy, Baldwin, Martha S., Won, Kimberly Y., Nace, Eva M., Eberhard, Mark L., Herwaldt, Barbara L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Amibiasis
Animals
Basil
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Cohort Studies
Crops
Cyclospora
Cyclospora - genetics
Cyclospora - isolation & purification
Cyclosporiasis
Cyclosporiasis - epidemiology
Cyclosporiasis - microbiology
Disease Outbreaks
Diseases
Female
Food Parasitology
Foodborne illnesses
Human protozoal diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Major Articles
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Missouri - epidemiology
Ocimum basilicum - parasitology
Oocysts
Parasitic diseases
Pasta salads
Protozoal diseases
Retrospective Studies
Salads
Shipments
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Summary:During the summer of 1999, an outbreak of cyclosporiasis occurred among attendees of 2 events held on 24 July in different counties in Missouri. We conducted retrospective cohort studies of the 2 clusters of cases, which comprised 62 case patients. The chicken pasta salad served at one event (relative risk [RR], 4.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.80-10.01) and the tomato basil salad served at the other event (RR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.72-5.07) were most strongly associated with illness. The most likely vehicle of infection was fresh basil, which was included in both salads and could have been grown either in Mexico or the United States. Leftover chicken pasta salad was found to be positive for Cyclospora DNA by means of polymerase chain reaction analysis, and 1 sporulated Cyclospora oocyst was found by use of microscopy. This is the second documented outbreak of cyclosporiasis in the United States linked to fresh basil and the first US outbreak for which Cyclospora has been detected in an epidemiologically implicated food item.
ISSN:1058-4838
1537-6591
DOI:10.1086/319597