A parasite unseen to the human eye might be responsible for giving 40 Northern Virginia workers serious gastrointestinal issues.
All four dozen people are employees at two businesses in the area. Health officials haven't identified a food or water source for this outbreak, but believe it may be caused by a little-known parasite that's been slowly on the rise since the 90s.
People get Cyclosporiasis, whose symptoms are similar to the flu, when they eat food or drink water contaminated with feces that contains the parasite. In the Northern Virginia case, no food or water source has been identified yet as health officials continue investigating.
At this time last year there were eight reported cases in the region. So far, they've seen 15 cases in 2019, with a significant increase in mid-June.
Of the 39 Cyclosporiasis outbreaks since 2000, only 17 have a known food vehicle, like snow peas in 2004 and cilantro in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
The CDC says it takes a week for someone infected to start feeling sick, but that symptoms don't show up in everyone. They also say it's unlikely the illness is spread from person-to-person contact, as it takes the parasite between one and two after being passed in a bowel movement to even become infectious.
The best way to prevent Cyclosporiasis is similar to other food borne illnesses: wash your hands and wash your food.
