LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) \u2014 The Arkansas Department of Health has confirmed at least one case of Cyclospora in the state.<\/p>\n
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that infects small intestines. It can cause severe diarrhea, stomach cramps and nausea.<\/p>\n
One Little Rock man said he developed the illness after eating cilantro contaminated with the parasite.<\/p>\n
“It was second to none. My body ached. Everything hurt, and I had trouble getting out of bed,” he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Robert Hopkins said one of the biggest mistakes people can make is taking over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medication to stop the symptoms.<\/p>\n
“You don’t want to keep it in your system,” Hopkins said. “We want to stay away from anti-diarrheal drugs. We do want to push fluids \u2014 small amounts frequently. If you keep that down, take a few more sips. We want to support the body rather than, shall we say, put the plug in.”<\/p>\n
Health experts recommend drinking plenty of water, replacing electrolytes and eating soft, easy-to-digest foods while recovering.<\/p>\n
As cases continue to be reported across the country, experts say Cyclospora infections are most commonly linked to fresh produce contaminated with fecal matter.<\/p>\n
“If you didn’t grow it in your own garden and know it’s not contaminated, you should gently wash the surface with running water,” Hopkins said.<\/p>\n
Food safety specialist Lida Araghi said proper food handling can help reduce the risk of infection.<\/p>\n
“Start by washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds. Then wash your produce under running water. If possible, use a clean brush to scrub firm vegetables,” Araghi said. “The CDC does not recommend using bleach, vinegar or any other produce-washing solutions.”<\/p>\n
Experts say rinsing fruits and vegetables under running water can lower the risk of contamination, but it does not eliminate it completely.<\/p>\n
Health officials also recommend avoiding pre-cut or bagged produce if there is an active Cyclospora outbreak or recall involving those products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) \u2014 The Arkansas Department of Health has confirmed at least one case of Cyclospora…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46],"class_list":["post-540618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}