RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Health officials still haven’t determined the local source of a parasite causing explosive diarrhea, but cases of cyclosporiasis continue to climb in Wake County and across the country.
Doctors have warned the parasite can spread through contaminated food or water, so we wanted to know whether swimming is a concern. We took that question to an infectious disease expert with UNC Health and the deputy director of the Wake County Health Department.
When it comes to cyclospora, a microscopic parasite that can cause severe diarrhea, UNC Health infectious disease expert Dr. David Wohl puts it bluntly: “What you need to know about is poop and where poop goes, and unfortunately it goes more places than we think,” he said. “More commonly than we are aware of, we come in contact with other people’s poop, and so water is a great way to get exposed to very minute amounts of fecal matter.”…