The federal health department is running a campaign urging Americans to eat more fresh, minimally processed food during the worst cyclosporiasis season on record, and the collision between those two facts is now a communications problem rather than a scientific one.
Since May, roughly 14,000 confirmed cyclosporiasis infections have been reported nationally, with more than 10,000 additional suspected cases under investigation, at least 740 hospitalizations, and two deaths. Alongside it, a salmonella outbreak traced to jalapeños has sickened 345 people across 27 states, and about 19 million eggs were recalled after a separate salmonella link that sickened 98 people in 17 states.
