At least nine people were infected by cyclospora after eating since-recalled lettuce at a New Hampshire hospital cafeteria, health officials said Thursday.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is asking anyone who ate lettuce at Keene’s Cheshire Medical Center from June through this Monday and then developed watery diarrhea that was severe or persistent to contact their doctor to get tested for cyclosporiasis, the infection caused by the cyclospora parasite.
Thousands of people across the country have been infected in at least one cyclospora outbreak, which federal health officials have connected to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico that’s been sold in the U.S.
The cluster identified in connection with the Cheshire Medical Center’s cafeteria remained under investigation on Thursday, including reports of more potential cases, officials said. The cafeteria did serve lettuce later recalled by Taylor Farms in the national outbreak, though it no longer is.
Multiple food recalls in recent weeks have raised questions about food safety.
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Cheshire Medical Center said in a statement Thursday that it’s identified 16 people exposed to Cyclosporaiasis, six of them outpatients and 10 employees, and that nine of those are the ones confirmed by health authorities.
“DHHS findings suggest that some of the cases we identified were likely contracted through consumption of contaminated Taylor Farms lettuce served at our cafeteria salad bar prior to the national recall,” the hospital said in a statement. “We have pulled all recalled items and, out of an abundance of caution, all salad bar options have been temporarily removed until such time that we are confident in the safety of our patients and community.”
They said they are closely monitoring the situation and working with state health officials, whom they immediately contacted after learning of the cases.
Dining and Cooking