Dozens of McDonald’s clients from Illinois and Iowa got ill with Cyclosporiasis after consuming salads contaminated with the Cyclospora cayetanensis parasite. In the State of Illinois, 90 cases have been recorded as of mid-May and in Iowa, 15 since June.
The Illinois Department of Health pointed out that “initial research indicates that about one in four people affected had eaten salads from McDonald’s before they became ill.”
Common symptoms of the Cyclosporiasis infection are lack of appetite, weight loss, stomach aches, bloating, gassiness, and more often, nausea and fatigue. Also, according to the local media, the pathology can last from a few days to several months, and although the patients improve, in many cases they get worse again.
Everyone who consumed McDonald’s salads was asked to seek medical care
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Cyclosporiasis infections have been recorded in a number of counties throughout the state, even though they did not specify which counties were affected. Also, the health officials in Iowa warned that several recent Cyclospora cayetanensis infections in those states might be related to salads.
As such, everyone who has consumed a McDonald’s salad since mid-May and has undergone diarrhea and fatigue was requested to seek out a health care provider for evaluation and appropriate treatment.
As reported, the McDonald’s salads were contaminated with Cyclospora, a parasite that can be ingested by humans from food and water that has been exposed to feces and causes the non-fatal intestinal illness known as cyclosporiasis.
McDonald’s, the CDC, and the FDA work together to solve this case
McDonald’s is collaborating with the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to solve out this situation. Accordingly, McDonald’s ceased the sale of salads in 3,000 restaurants in the United States because of the likelihood that the lettuce they use is infected.
“We are in the process of removing lettuce from restaurants and distribution centers where the problem has been identified, some 3,000 of our restaurants located mainly in the Midwest,” McDonald’s spokesmen stated.
The Cyclosporiasis infection is treatable with antibiotics.
