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Volume 15, Number 8—August 2009
Dispatch

Challenges of Investigating Community Outbreaks of Cyclosporiasis, British Columbia, Canada

Lena Shah, Laura MacDougallComments to Author , Andrea Ellis, Corinne Ong, Sion Shyng, Linda LeBlanc, and the British Columbia Cyclospora Investigation Team1
Author affiliations: Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (L. Shah); British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (L. Shah, L. MacDougall, C. Ong, S. Shyng); Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, Ontario, Canada (A. Ellis); Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa (L. LeBlanc)

Main Article

Table 1

Cyclosporiasis case definitions, British Columbia, Canada, May 1–July 31, 2007

Case type Definition
Confirmed British Columbia residents who had not traveled outside Canada and the United States within 2 weeks before symptom onset and in whom Cyclospora species oocysts* were detected by microscopy on or after May 1, 2007
Probable Clinical illness compatible with Cyclospora infection (i.e., watery diarrhea and/or bloating, cramps, loss of appetite, loss of weight), no travel outside Canada and the United States within 2 weeks before symptom onset, and onset of symptoms within a week of a person with whom they shared food exposures and who had a laboratory-confirmed case

*Laboratory-confirmed cases were reported to public health by medical diagnostic laboratories and specimens forwarded for confirmation to the public health reference laboratory. The morphologic identification of Cyclospora spp. oocysts included shape (spherical), size (8–10 μm in diameter), oocyst wall (well-defined), internal contents with refractile globules, autofluorescence, and modified acid-fast or safranin staining (1).

Main Article

References
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Main Article

1British Columbia Cyclospora Investigation Team: Dan Moreau, Craig Nowakowski (Vancouver Island Health Authority); Mark Ritson, Arne Faremo (Vancouver Coastal Health Authority); Krista Wilson, Brian Gregory (Interior Health Authority); Susan Schleicher, Shendra Brisdon, Jason Stone (Fraser Health Authority); Julie Wong, Joe Fung, Linda Hoang (Provincial Health Services Authority Laboratories); and Lisa Wu (Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Burnaby).

Page created: November 03, 2010
Page updated: November 03, 2010
Page reviewed: November 03, 2010
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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