Preventing Cyclosporiasis

For Everyone
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Key points

  • You can get sick eating food or drinking water that is contaminated with the Cyclospora parasite.
  • Follow safe food handling practices to reduce your risk of illness.
  • Stay up to date on food safety alerts. Do not eat recalled food.
Person rinsing vegetables under faucet.

Overview

If you eat food or drink water that is contaminated with Cyclospora, you could get a gastrointestinal illness called cyclosporiasis. Follow the prevention steps below to reduce your risk of illness. Keep current on food safety alerts and contact your healthcare provider if you are experiencing watery diarrhea or other symptoms of cyclosporiasis.

Prevention tips

A woman stirs a pan of vegetables cooking on a stovetop.
Cooking kills the Cyclospora parasite. When possible, cook produce to a temperature of at least 158 °F (70°C).

Actions to take

  • Wash your hands.
    Wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling or preparing raw fruits and vegetables.
  • Wash all fruits and vegetables.
    Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water before eating, cutting, or cooking.
  • Scrub firm produce with a clean brush.
    Scrub firm fruits and vegetables like melons and cucumbers with a clean produce brush under running water.
  • Cut away damaged or bruised areas.
    Cut away any damaged or bruised areas on fruits and vegetables.
  • Cook produce when possible.
    Cook produce to a temperature of at least 158 °F (70°C), since washing alone can't guarantee the parasite's removal.
  • Refrigerate produce as soon as possible.
    Refrigerate cut, peeled, or cooked fruits and vegetables as soon as possible (within two hours).
  • Stay up to date on food safety alerts.
    Keep current with food safety alerts and throw out recalled food or return it to the store.

Keep in mind

If you are traveling to tropical or subtropical areas where cyclosporiasis is regularly occurring, it's important to know that routine treatment of food or water is unlikely to kill Cyclospora.

Resources

illustration of cheese, raw chicken and veggies with a microscope showing germs
Current Outbreaks
Current foodborne outbreak investigations and selected outbreak notices.
A person washes salad greens under tap water.
Food Safety Basics
Some foods are more likely to contain germs that can make you sick.
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Content Source
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)
About This Page
Published: May 15, 2024
Updated: September 11, 2026

This page was last updated on this date. Updates may include minor edits, image changes, or other modifications to page content.

Reviewed: September 11, 2026

The information on this page was last reviewed by subject matter experts to ensure accuracy.