By Nina Moini, Minnesota Public Radio News

 

State health officials have confirmed 35 cases of illness from contaminated basil in Minnesota since mid-June.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday a multistate outbreak of cyclospora illnesses potentially linked to fresh basil exported by Siga Logistics de RL de CV located in Morelos, Mexico.

Trisha Robinson, an epidemiologist supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Health, said it is a common time of year for the parasite, which causes symptoms of diarrhea and fatigue for weeks if left untreated.

“Humans are the only known host, but the parasite requires 1-2 weeks outside of the body in the right environmental conditions to actually become infectious,” Robinson said. “So, we do not see evidence of people spreading it from one person directly to another.”

Robinson said the Minnesota cases come from three June outbreaks at three different restaurants and there is no evidence of an ongoing threat. The illness is usually associated with contaminated fresh produce or herbs imported from abroad.

The Minnesota outbreaks produced four cases from Outback Steakhouse in Hermantown, five cases from meals at a Duluth conference catered by Duluth Grill, and 26 cases from City Market in Rochester.

Robinson said the restaurants are not at fault and have worked with the agency to find patrons. The state has been interviewing those who fell ill.

“We ask them what they would have eaten in those couple of weeks before they became sick and where it was from,” Robinson said. “Very detailed information, and then we use that information to identify commonalities between cases.”

In a statement on its website, the FDA said it is working on a recall. As the outbreak investigation continues, the federal agency said it will “work with Mexican food safety regulatory counterparts to better define the cause and source of this outbreak. Additionally, the FDA will update this advisory as more information becomes available.”