Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite, according to the CDC.
People can become infected by consuming food or water that contains the parasite.
The illness is not usually life-threatening, according to the CDC, and is less common than other foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and E. coli.
People who are infected with cyclospora may or may not experience symptoms. The illness usually causes diarrhoea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements”, says the public health agency.
If untreated, the illness may last from a few days to over a month, and symptoms may return after appearing to dissipate.
It usually takes about one week after infection to become sick.
Person-to-person transmission does not occur, according to Dr Caitlin Rivers, of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
The epidemiologist wrote in an 8 July newsletter that transmission was exclusively faecal-oral via ingestion of contaminated food or water.
