On the last Thursday of June, Cristy Cooper sat down on the toilet and immediately realized something was terribly wrong.
What followed was unlike anything the 51-year-old had ever experienced.
“The amount of pressure when it comes out,” she told The Post on a phone call from the hospital. “The force is crazy.”
The Texas native is one of more than 140 people across the US who have recently contracted cyclosporiasis, an intestinal parasitic infection that causes, among other symptoms, explosive diarrhea and vomiting.
Chatting to The Post from her hospital bed, she candidly revealed exactly how bad her bout of illness has been,
Between May and June, 145 people ages 5 to 86 years across 20 states contracted the illness, according to the CDC — with New York reporting the highest number of cases, followed by Texas and Illinois.
The disease, caused by the Cyclospora cayetanensis parasite, is likely linked to various fresh, imported produce — but experts are not sure exactly what food exactly has led to some of the biggest clusters of cases.
While no deaths have been reported, 40 people have reportedly been hospitalized, Cooper included.
“I really didn’t do anything about it for the first few days, and then it just was unbearable,” she said, recounting her days and nights spent blasting the loudest farts of her life while enduring a relentless rush of poopy water. “Normally diarrhea would never send me to an ER.”
Unbearable diarrhea and bizarre farts
Her first symptom was what she called “unbearable” diarrhea, which began on June 25. It started with “a lot of, like, just basically water coming out the back end.”
Cooper said she was stunned by the sheer force, speed and volume.
“You know, like when you flush a public toilet, how it goes, ‘WHOOSH!’ That’s what I would liken it to, coming out of you.”
“The funniest part of it [is] literally the sounds. I was farting like a grown man.”
Cristy Cooper
Even sleep offered little relief. “Here’s the bad part,” she recalled. “I shat myself twice in my sleep. That was fun.”
She felt it coming, but the force was simply too much. Cooper called it “absolutely” the worst diarrhea she’s ever had.
“I wouldn’t wish this one on my enemies,” she said.
On second thought: “Maybe an ex-husband.”
Over the next two days, she developed excessive gas, fatigue, acute vomiting, nausea and painful cramping and had a fever of 100.2 degrees — all symptoms of cyclosporiasis.
At its worst, she was using the toilet no less than 30 times a day.
“The funniest part of it [is] literally the sounds. I was farting like a grown man,” she remembered. “I mean, like you could hear it probably three doors down, like ‘What on earth?’ That was the most bizarre part.”
Checking into the hospital
By Sunday, Cooper knew something was seriously wrong and checked herself into the hospital, where she finally received her diagnosis.
Most people with healthy immune systems eventually recover from cyclosporiasis without treatment by resting, staying hydrated and eating what they can tolerate.
“This is worse than like any flu I’ve ever gotten or anything, it’s just so…it’s miserable. I’m worn out from it. I really am.”
Cristy Cooper
Cooper, however, is immunocompromised. As a dialysis patient, her fluid intake — including water, soups and even Jell-O — must be carefully restricted because excess fluids can lead to severe complications such as high blood pressure, shortness of breath and heart strain.
Fortunately, her diarrhea began slowing after she arrived at the hospital. Her appetite, on the other hand, has largely disappeared — another common symptom of the illness.
“Nothing tastes right, nothing sounds good,” she said. “When I finally said, “Oh, well, maybe I would eat that — no. One bite, I’m like, ‘No, it just, nothing tastes right.’”
She believes she’s lost at least 10 pounds during the ordeal. But if anyone is considering cyclosporiasis as a weight loss hack, Cooper wouldn’t advise it: “I don’t recommend this diet plan at all. It’s not the new Ozempic.”
“This is worse than like any flu I’ve ever gotten or anything, it’s just so…it’s miserable,” she added. “I’m worn out from it. I really am.”
The road back
Recovery from cyclosporiasis isn’t always straightforward. While some people recover within weeks, those who are immunocompromised, like Cooper, can face longer or more severe illness. And without treatments, symptoms can last a month or more.
Fortunately, Cooper is receiving treatment. Due to her sulfa allergy — sulfa is a key ingredient in trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol, the standard treatment for cyclosporiasis — doctors prescribed ciprofloxacin.
She also learned that the illness can relapse for some people, with symptoms disappearing before returning again.
“I’m like, please don’t be ‘some people,’” she said.
Now her trips to the toilet have dropped to four or five times a day, though her business still isn’t as usual.
“I haven’t had anything solid coming out of me since before Thursday is when it all started,” she revealed.
At the same time, Cooper said the illness has provided a welcome distraction. This July 4 marks the second anniversary of the Camp Mystic flood disaster in her hometown of Kerr County, a tragedy that left 25 young campers, two teenage counselors, and the camp’s owner dead.
“It’s keeping my mind off that a little bit,” she shared.
To pass the time, a pajama-clad Cooper also posted a TikTok from her hospital bed, telling her more than 36,000 followers she had been diagnosed with a disease she had previously never heard of.
“All the comments I’ve gotten on my TikTok, there’s lots of people saying I have that, or I’ve had it, or I think I have it,” she noticed.
“If I’m gonna be in a literal shitty situation,” she said, “at least other people are too.”
Looking for answers
People become infected with cyclosporiasis after consuming food or water contaminated with feces, often while traveling in tropical areas outside the US.
But neither Cooper nor the people infected in the current outbreak had recently traveled abroad.
About three weeks earlier, she bought some peaches and tomatoes from a roadside fruit stand roughly 10 miles from her house. She also remembers purchasing grocery store cantaloupe and a bagged Caesar salad.
Fresh, imported produce has been linked to cyclospora infections, but the CDC has not identified a specific source in the current cases and says there is no evidence that all illnesses are connected to a single multi-state outbreak.
“Local, state, and federal (CDC, FDA) public health authorities are investigating several clusters of cases in more than one state. Investigations to identify potential sources are ongoing,” the agency reported.
Cooper has her own theories.
“I’m wondering about bagged salad, if it’s this widespread,” she said.
Her advice is simple: Wash your produce thoroughly and wash your hands before and during food preparation. Going forward, she plans to wash even bagged salads, regardless of any pre-wash claims on the packaging.
Still, she knows that isn’t a guarantee. While thoroughly washing fresh produce significantly lowers the risk for contracting cyclosporiasis, it cannot completely eliminate the parasite.
People like her, who always wash their fresh produce “no matter what,” still got infected.
“Even clean people get it,” she said.
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