This As They Told Essay is based on a conversation with Dr. Stephen Chang, gastroenterologist and interim director of endoscopy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Since the cyclospora outbreak, my family has not changed what we consume or our eating practices. I have older children and I don’t want them to use this as an excuse to stop eating fruits and vegetables. The teaching point in our house right now is to remind them how to prepare them safely.

It is important for everyone to remember that we have actually had cyclospora outbreaks in the past. This is higher than we’ve seen before, but the numbers are still relatively low overall. (As of late last week, just over 300 confirmed cases were reported here in Illinois, and the state’s population exceeds 12 million people.) We are much more likely to encounter other causes of acute diarrhea, such as norovirus, E. coli, and Salmonella, than cyclospora.

If you begin to have persistent symptoms, especially diarrhea that lasts more than a few days and up to a week, seek medical attention and see if testing is appropriate.

This is the advice I give to my friends and family about being vigilant and avoiding suspicious sources of this outbreak, without completely changing our eating habits:

1. Wash your vegetables well

I’m a salad person. Even before this cyclospora outbreak, I usually still washed my bagged salad thoroughly, even if the package said it was pre-washed or triple-washed.

I’ve always tried to be pretty good at handling food and this situation has reminded me to wash it a little more than usual.

It’s a good reminder of the things we should always do for food safety: wash our hands before and after working with food, wash our produce thoroughly (not just splash it in water for a few seconds), and discard the outside leaves of a head of lettuce after washing it and make sure to wash the inside.

Make sure you wash your vegetables. before you cut them, to prevent the knife from spreading contamination.

You may also consider leaning more toward well-cooked vegetables during the outbreak, if you can, to give yourself a better chance of not getting sick. We know that cyclospora dies when heated to at least 158 ​​degrees Fahrenheit.

2. For now, be careful with lettuce, even when dining out

Now that we have more precise guidance in terms of a potential source (iceberg lettuce, specifically from Taylor Farms), it might be worth pausing before purchasing iceberg lettuce, or at least knowing where it comes from. (Editor’s note: The Food and Drug Administration has advised consumers not to eat recalled Taylor Farms lettuce products.)

I’m not a regular consumer of iceberg lettuce, but I follow the news closely to make sure I don’t buy it from somewhere that might be a suspicious source.

Being careful when eating out can be the biggest problem, because when you prepare food at home, you are the one who cleans the products to eat.

If you’re really set on eating lettuce at a restaurant but don’t know where it comes from, maybe ask the restaurant if they know where they get it from. Or leave that aside for now and lean more toward well-cooked vegetable options until we know this is over.

3. Also clean your fruit carefully

Berries are complicated. Some past outbreaks have been linked to them, but we don’t know that about the current outbreak yet. They are smaller, not easy to clean with a brush, and many contain fine hairs that experts believe cyclospora find it easier to attach to. Be more mindful of how you wash them, or maybe avoid them altogether.

Generally, even with peeled fruits, you should wash the outside very well, such as with a clean fruit and vegetable brush, before cutting them. Otherwise, the knife could, in theory, transport the organisms inside that you plan to eat.

4. People at higher risk should be more careful

Higher-risk groups (those most likely to be hospitalized if they get sick) who need to be much more vigilant include the immunocompromised, the elderly, and young children or babies.

If you are in one of those higher-risk groups, reduce your consumption of raw fruits and vegetables and eat vegetables cooked at safe temperatures until the outbreak appears to be over, to give yourself the best chance of not getting sick.

5. Stay on top of the news

How long this can continue is up in the air. Outbreaks tend to be seasonal (the number of cases decreases from late August and into September) due to the temperature needed to allow infectious particles to become infectious.

However, it can still be unpredictable. Everyone should be aware, even if you don’t live in the states where the hot spots seem to be.

Because the situation is moving so quickly, it is important to follow the news about it. Follow the findings and guidelines of public health researchers through sources such as your local public health department website, the CDC website, and the Department of Public Health website.

We’re still in the early days of this, and while we don’t have much specific guidance on where the outbreak is coming from, we can still safely consume many fruits and vegetables if we practice good food handling habits.

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