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[Previously: ALERT: Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Nationwide]
There's a subtle fault I've noticed about how a lot of people are thinking about Cyclospora, the organism causing the outbreak of cyclosporiasis.
People, such as over on Reddit, keep talking about Cyclospora as something that is found in soil. Which is true – but how do you think it get there?
I think the problem is that people think of feces, which is what Cyclospora oocysts are found in, as something that stays where you put it. They think of feces as a solid.
But if cyclosporiasis teaches us anything, it is that feces are not necessarily a solid.
In fact, when you're talking about infectious disease and public health in the US, you should be thinking of feces as a fluid. Not because people sometimes have diarrhea, but because here people always flush it down toilets. With water. Making sewage.
( I am so sorry to be talking about this. Nevertheless... Read more [1,000 words] )
This post brought to you by the 227 readers who funded my writing it – thank you all so much! You can see who they are at my Patreon page. If you're not one of them, and would be willing to chip in so I can write more things like this, please do so there.
Please leave comments on the Comment Catcher comment, instead of the main body of the post – unless you are commenting to get a copy of the post sent to you in email through the notification system, then go ahead and comment on it directly. Thanks!
[Previously: ALERT: Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Nationwide]
There's a subtle fault I've noticed about how a lot of people are thinking about Cyclospora, the organism causing the outbreak of cyclosporiasis.
People, such as over on Reddit, keep talking about Cyclospora as something that is found in soil. Which is true – but how do you think it get there?
I think the problem is that people think of feces, which is what Cyclospora oocysts are found in, as something that stays where you put it. They think of feces as a solid.
But if cyclosporiasis teaches us anything, it is that feces are not necessarily a solid.
In fact, when you're talking about infectious disease and public health in the US, you should be thinking of feces as a fluid. Not because people sometimes have diarrhea, but because here people always flush it down toilets. With water. Making sewage.
( I am so sorry to be talking about this. Nevertheless... Read more [1,000 words] )
This post brought to you by the 227 readers who funded my writing it – thank you all so much! You can see who they are at my Patreon page. If you're not one of them, and would be willing to chip in so I can write more things like this, please do so there.
Please leave comments on the Comment Catcher comment, instead of the main body of the post – unless you are commenting to get a copy of the post sent to you in email through the notification system, then go ahead and comment on it directly. Thanks!