It starts out with a couple of stomach twinges, maybe a little nausea, maybe some sharp pains, and then… before you know it, you are running to the closest toilet with which you become very, very familiar. Cyclospora causes frequent watery diarrhea with sometime "explosive" bowel movements, but is typically a relatively rare cause of infectious diarrhea. However, the U.S. is in the midst of one of the largest documented cyclosporiasis outbreaks. How does one acquire this parasite? What are the risks? And – most importantly for our audience – how does the lab approach diagnosis?

Guests:

• Daniel Rhoads, M.D.
• Bobbi Pritt, M.D.
• Marc Couturier, Ph.D., D(ABMM)

Links:

This episode is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

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