This 29-year-old had a 'miserable' cyclosporiasis experience: 'You lose complete control'

Christina Hart, a 29-year-old food reviewer from Tennessee, recently found out she had cyclosporiasis — a sickness caused by a tiny parasite. She hosts an online show called "The Locally Owned Series" and has nearly 160,000 followers on TikTok. Hart told her fans and USA TODAY that the illness was "just miserable." She got sick while she was building her career as a local food influencer, which made the experience even harder.

At first, Hart thought she just had food poisoning or a stomach bug. But after more than a week of feeling sick, she decided to see a doctor. She had been reading headlines about cyclosporiasis and realized her symptoms matched. When she got tested, the results came back positive. She was sick for three full weeks before she started feeling better around the three-and-a-half-week mark.

Hart said she did not fully understand how serious the illness was until she got it herself. Cyclosporiasis can cause frequent, watery diarrhea, nausea, cramps, bloating, and a mild fever, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hart described having to rush to the bathroom so often that she was afraid to leave her home. "I'm like, 'What if I have to go?' Because you lose complete control," she said. The fear of having an accident in public kept her from living her normal life.

As of early August, more than 10,000 cases of cyclosporiasis had been confirmed across 47 states in the U.S. Michigan had the highest number of cases in the country. Health officials there also confirmed the first two deaths connected to the ongoing outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking the spread of the illness closely. The numbers showed just how serious and widespread this parasitic infection had become.

The illness also took a physical toll on Hart beyond the constant bathroom trips. She dealt with a lot of bloating even though she was barely eating. By the time she recovered, she had lost 17 pounds. Now she says she feels "fantastic" and "completely back to normal." But she still describes the experience as "very uncomfortable."

Being sick forced Hart to stop posting new episodes of her show. Her schedule went from two or three episodes per week to nothing at all. She worried her followers would lose interest and that the illness would hurt her growing career. Many fans reached out asking where she had gone, and she felt awkward explaining the reason. She described having to pause her show as "kind of depressing," saying it added a mental toll on top of the physical one.

Surprisingly, Hart's decision to open up about her illness ended up helping her career. She shared the story of "the whole parasite thing" with her audience, and it launched her show into even more success. New opportunities came her way that she had not expected. "A lot of doors kind of opened unexpectedly through this miserable experience, so I'm grateful for it," she said. She added that even though she hated what she went through, she is now finding the positive side of it.