Cyclospora
- What is the incubation period for Cyclospora, and how can this information be used in the investigation?
- In this case study, 3 Canadian businessmen were infected. Is it possible that one of these men was the source of infection for the others? Explain.
- For the epidemiological investigation of the outbreak of Cyclospora in Houston, Texas how did investigators define a ‘case’ of cyclosporiasis’?
- In the epidemiological investigation, two cohort studies were done. Describe what a ‘cohort study’ is?
- What food source was linked to illness, and what was the source of this food (where was it grown)?
- Based on the results of the epidemiological studies, what recommendations did the public health officials give to consumers?
- Despite these recommendations, cases of cyclosporiasis continued. Discrepancies began to appear with regard to the link between strawberries and Cyclospora infections. For these cases, a link between raspberries was proposed. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services initiated an epidemiological investigation to identify the source of infection among cyclosporiasis cases in New Jersey residents. For this investigation, a case-control study was done. What is a ‘case-control’ study?
- What was the ‘case definition’ for the New Jersey case-control study? What was considered a ‘control’?
- The odds ratio for eating raspberries was 32.7. What is an ‘odds-ratio’? From the data presented in Table 1-4 on page 280, how was this odds-ratio calculated?
- In studies conducted from other states and Canada, a total of 725 cases of cyclosporiasis associated with 55 different events were identified. The median attack rate for cyclosporiasis among persons who ate items containing raspberries at the different events was 93%. Define ‘attack rate’.
- The CDC , the FDA and the health departments from the affected states conducted studies to determine the source of the contaminated raspberries. What was the conclusion of these investigations? That is, what was the source, and how did the raspberries become contaminated at this source?
- Based on these outbreaks, discuss control and prevention measures taken by the Guatemalan Berries Commission to help prevent outbreaks of cyclosporiasis.
