
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 6, 1993                   TAG: 9305060132
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A18   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Short

NEW MICROBE ISOLATED AS DIARRHEA CULPRIT

Scientists have identified an especially unpleasant new variety of microbe that can cause weeks of diarrhea.

The microbe, which probably infects people all over the world, causes what researchers describe as "explosive watery diarrhea" that typically lasts up to five weeks.

The parasite was first seen under the microscope in Peru eight years ago. But its identity was a mystery. Some thought it was a form of cryptosporidium, the protozoa that contaminated municipal drinking water in Milwaukee. Others guessed a kind of blue-green algae or perhaps a flagellate, a microbe with a whip-like tail.

Now, they have found that the bug, which is still unnamed, is a form of protozoa of the coccidian genus cyclospora. Cousins of this microbe are widely recognized as a major problem among farm animals, but this is the first time it has ever been found in humans.

by CNB