LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Channel 13 continues to track the latest from doctors and experts as more than 30 states across the nation are seeing the spread of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection.
It causes G-I problems and diarrhea, and historically, experts say these parasites are typically found in lettuce, bagged salads, herbs, berries, and other veggies.
A few months back, Channel 13 talked with Maria Villareal, the owner of Maria’s Kitchen. It’s a food truck, but come August Maria’s switching gears to open her own brick-and-mortar restaurant called Downtown Cafe.
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Her son, Eric Gonzalez told Channel 13 that no matter what kind of business she runs, his mom takes food safety seriously.
“She treats her customers as if they’re family members,” he said, and that means only serving them food that she’d want to eat herself.
Though there are no cases of cyclosporiasis here in Nevada, it’s something Maria’s Kitchen is monitoring.
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“The parasite is definitely on our minds,” said Gonzalez.
He said, “we take a little more obviously attention to detail to make sure that everything is good, whether it be the lettuce leaf by leaf, or the cilantro cluster by cluster by cluster, we take that extra time.” He added, “And to be honest, all the time is that attention to detail.”
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When it comes to ingredients, “pre-cut and bagged veggies is a no-go. Everything is freshly washed, freshly cut,” said Gonzalez, who added that his mom only shops local and picks out food herself.
Meantime, doctors are keeping an eye on this tricky parasite. Dr. Hayden Maag, an emergency room physician at MountainView Hospital said “It’s something we’re definitely aware of, but not something that we’re sounding the alarm on just yet.”
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He added, “This is all still ongoing. At this point, we have to kind of at least have to have in the back of our minds all fresh produce, all fresh herbs that could potentially be a source of this.”
You can stay up to date on what the CDC is saying about this here. They recommend washing all produce you buy, even if it says “pre-washed.”