Public Health Sudbury and Districts is assuring it is monitoring the outbreak of an intestinal illness possibly linked to imported lettuce.
The health unit says it's "closely" watching the US outbreak of cyclosporiasis and a "potentially-related" outbreak in Quebec, emphasizing "at this time, no increase in the number of infections...has been reported" in the Sudbury and districts area - while one infection was reported this year, that was linked to international travel, and down from the three reported last year, though it notes infections occur in Canada every year and are usually linked to international travel.
Usually appearing about seven days after eating or drinking contaminated food or water, symptoms range from diarrhea, loss of appetite, bloating, and flatulence to nausea, tiredness, and fever - while most people recover on their own, symptoms can persist for weeks or months if untreated, so if you experience those symptoms, get advice from a health care provider.
As the intestinal illness is caused by a microscopic parasite, the health unit encourages people to reduce risk by washing hands well with soap and water, washing gruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating them, and if you choose to reduce raw fresh fruit and vegetable consumption to avoid gastrointestinal illnesses, increase cooked fruit and vegetable consumption to ensure you still get enough vitamins and fibre.