The Swedish Public Health Agency, Folkhälsomyndigheten together with the Swedish Food Agency are investigating the cause of Cryptosporidium outbreak as the increasing numbers of infected cases has been seen since the beginning of October 2022.
According to Food Safety News, there are 61 cases confirmed: 41 are women and 20 are men. The patients are aged between 11 and 86 years old with an average age of 44.
Plus, there are 98 possible cases that have been reported within the same period.
At present, the suspected source of the parasite outbreak is to be a food with wide distribution in Sweden.
Cryptosporidium or “Crypto” is microscopic parasite that can be found in contaminated water, food, soil or on surfaces or dirty hands that have been contaminated with the feces of humans or animals infected with the parasite.
Cryptosporidiosis disease causes watery diarrhea as well as stomach pain, nausea or vomiting, fever, and sometimes dehydration and weight loss.
Source:
- https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/10/sweden-searches-for-source-of-crypto-and-salmonella-outbreaks/
- http://outbreaknewstoday.com/sweden-investigates-cryptosporidium-outbreak-92667/
- https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypto/general-info.html
