The U.S. FDA released the “Cyclospora Prevention, Response, and Research Action Plan.” The plan focuses on improving prevention, enhancing response activities, and filling knowledge gaps to help prevent Cyclospora contamination of foods and help prepare for responding to future outbreaks. The FDA developed new testing methods for Cyclospora to help the agency to identify positive samples.
According to the CDC, there have been roughly 6,000 domestically acquired cases of Cyclospora over the last three years. In 2019 the FDA created the Cyclospora Task Force to illness caused by Cyclospora in produce. The task force action plan will serve as a strategic guide to improve prevention, enhance response activities and fill knowledge gaps about the presence of Cyclospora in or on foods. The plan includes developing and delivering prevention-focused education materials and encouragement to develop rapid test kits to detect Cyclospora specifically. The plan also focuses on expanding laboratory capacity to detect the organism. The FDA intends to work with CDC to better understand cyclosporiasis’ case distribution across the U.S. and advance genotyping methods in clinical, food, and environmental samples. The plan intends to better understand the prevalence of Cyclospora in agricultural water and encourage data sharing to help stakeholders identify trends associated with Cyclospora contamination. @ https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-releases-cyclospora-prevention-response-and-research-action-plan?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
