{"id":336388,"date":"2026-07-11T00:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T00:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/336388\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T00:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T00:07:14","slug":"cyclospora-outbreak-sickens-50-people-in-florida-health-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/336388\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclospora outbreak sickens 50 people in Florida, health officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWE HAVE A HEALTH ALERT FOR YOU TONIGHT. A STOMACH ILLNESS IS SPREADING ACROSS FLORIDA WITH DOZENS OF CASES ALREADY REPORTED. IT\u2019S CALLED CYCLOSPORIASIS AND IT CAN CAUSE SOME SERIOUS PAIN AND DISCOMFORT. WESH 2\u2019S. LUANA MUNOZ. FIND OUT HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF. A GROWING OUTBREAK HAS SICKENED PEOPLE IN SEVERAL STATES, AND NOW IT\u2019S HITTING FLORIDA. ACCORDING TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, THE PARASITIC INFECTION CYCLOSPORIASIS, HAS SICKENED 50 PEOPLE SO FAR. DOCTOR GUY L\u2019HALLUE, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONSULTANT, SAYS THE INFECTION TENDS TO BE MORE PREVALENT DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. IT\u2019S USUALLY BETWEEN MAY AND AUGUST. USUALLY IT IS CONTRACTED BY EATING CONTAMINATED FOOD, AND WE MENTION HERE MOSTLY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. WATER IS A LESS LIKELY SOURCE. THE MAIN CONCERN IS FRESH PRODUCE. CYCLOSPORIASIS CAN CAUSE WEEKS OF WHAT SOME ARE CALLING EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA. OTHER COMMON SYMPTOMS INCLUDE ABDOMINAL CRAMPING, BLOATING, LOSS OF APPETITE, AND FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS LIKE NAUSEA AND FATIGUE. IF SOMEBODY IS IMMUNOCOMPROMISED, MEANING THEY HAVE CONDITIONS THAT CAN REDUCE THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM, SUCH AS HIV, AIDS OR ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION, OR ANY BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION. THEY ARE AT A HIGH RISK OF GETTING A MORE SEVERE AND A MORE ANNOYING DISEASE, DOCTOR GUY SAYS. EVEN HEALTHY PEOPLE WON\u2019T ESCAPE THE MISERY. THE GOOD NEWS IS IT\u2019S TREATABLE WITH ANTIBIOTICS. DOCTOR GUY SAYS THE BEST WAY TO PREVENT THE DISEASE. OPT FOR MORE COOKED VEGETABLES IN YOUR MEALS, AND BE SURE TO GIVE YOUR FRUITS AND VEGGIES A GOOD WASH. DON\u2019T JUST SOAK THEM SOAKING ITSELF. AND THE DETERGENT ITSELF IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THE MECHANICAL EFFECT OF RUBBING, BECAUSE THE SPORES ARE VERY HARD TO KILL, THE GOAL IS TO JUST WASH THEM OUT SO THAT THEY\u2019RE NOT, YOU KNOW, PHYSICALLY PR\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Cyclospora outbreak sickens 50 people in Florida, health officials say<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"WESH<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tUpdated: 7:25 PM EDT Jul 10, 2026\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\tEditorial Standards \u24d8<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA cyclospora outbreak has sickened 50 people in Florida, with health officials warning about the risks of consuming contaminated fresh produce. Dr. Guy El Helou, an infectious disease consultant, said the parasitic infection, known as cyclosporiasis, is more common during the summer months. “Usually between May and August, usually it is contracted by eating contaminated food and we mention here mostly fruits and vegetables,” El Helou said. While water is a less likely source, fresh produce remains the primary concern. The illness can cause weeks of severe symptoms, including what some describe as “explosive diarrhea,” abdominal cramping, bloating, loss of appetite, nausea, and fatigue. “If somebody is immunocompromised \u2014 meaning they have conditions that can reduce their immune system such as HIV, AIDS, or organ transplantation or any bone marrow transplantation \u2014 they are at a higher risk of getting a more severe and a more annoying kind of disease,” El Helou said. Even healthy individuals can experience significant discomfort from the infection. The good news is that cyclosporiasis is treatable with antibiotics. To prevent the illness, El Helou recommends opting for cooked vegetables and thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables. “The soaking itself and the detergent itself is not as important as the mechanical effect of rubbing because the spores are very hard to kill. The goal is to just wash them out so that they are not physically present on the fruit or vegetable anymore,” El Helou said.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A cyclospora outbreak has sickened 50 people in Florida, with health officials warning about the risks of consuming contaminated fresh produce. <\/p>\n

Dr. Guy El Helou, an infectious disease consultant, said the parasitic infection, known as cyclosporiasis, is more common during the summer months. <\/p>\n

“Usually between May and August, usually it is contracted by eating contaminated food and we mention here mostly fruits and vegetables,” El Helou said. <\/p>\n

While water is a less likely source, fresh produce remains the primary concern. <\/p>\n

The illness can cause weeks of severe symptoms, including what some describe as “explosive diarrhea,” abdominal cramping, bloating, loss of appetite, nausea, and fatigue. <\/p>\n

“If somebody is immunocompromised \u2014 meaning they have conditions that can reduce their immune system such as HIV, AIDS, or organ transplantation or any bone marrow transplantation \u2014 they are at a higher risk of getting a more severe and a more annoying kind of disease,” El Helou said. <\/p>\n

Even healthy individuals can experience significant discomfort from the infection. The good news is that cyclosporiasis is treatable with antibiotics. <\/p>\n

To prevent the illness, El Helou recommends opting for cooked vegetables and thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables. <\/p>\n

“The soaking itself and the detergent itself is not as important as the mechanical effect of rubbing because the spores are very hard to kill. The goal is to just wash them out so that they are not physically present on the fruit or vegetable anymore,” El Helou said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WE HAVE A HEALTH ALERT FOR YOU TONIGHT. A STOMACH ILLNESS IS SPREADING ACROSS FLORIDA WITH DOZENS OF…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[138532,138531,138529,135480,138528,28,30,29,47622,32359,19098,13781,18742,138530,992,12876,25238],"class_list":["post-336388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-abdominal-cramping","tag-appetite","tag-cyclospora-outbreak","tag-cyclosporiasis","tag-dr-guy-el-helou","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fresh-produce","tag-fruit","tag-health-official","tag-illness","tag-loss","tag-parasitic-infection","tag-people","tag-risk","tag-vegetable"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}