Center for Tropical & Global Emerging Diseases 
The Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD) at The University of Georgia is one of the largest research centers focused on diseases of poverty. Based on a strong foundation of parasitology, immunology, cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics, researchers and students work together on some of the most im- portant causes of human suffering around the world, including malaria, schistosomiasis, African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, cryptosporidiosis, toxoplasmosis, filariasis, and leishmaniasis.
Many of these research programs have international, on-site components for both research and training. Currently, sites are located in South America, Africa, and Asia. Since 2004, CTEGD has housed a portion of the National Institutes of Health funded Bioinformatics Resource Center for Eukaryotic Pathogens, which is routinely accessed by over 13,000 researchers globally to study genomic and other high-throughput data related to significant human and veterinary pathogens.
Major goals of CTEGD include turning research into medical and public health interventions, promoting global research and edu- cation at the university and throughout the state of Georgia, and developing additional international research and education programs.
CTEGD FACULTY FOCUS
Ynes Ortega, Ph.D.
Two recent and significant outbreaks of Cyclospora infection in produce grown in the United States inspired Ynes Ortega, member of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology’s Center for Food Safety, to focus her research on the Cyclospora parasite and its effect in
the country. Cyclospora is usually only found in imported vegetables, particularly salad greens, making the outbreak in 2018 unusual and dangerous.
Cyclospora cayetanensis, the single-cell parasite that causes cyclosporiasis, was first described by Ortega in the 1990s. A person becomes infected with the parasite by consuming contaminated food, which results in gastrointestinal illness characterized primarily by diarrhea. Cyclosporiasis is treated with sulfa drugs, fluids, and rest. If left untreated, the symptoms can persist for up to a month and can be recurring.
Ortega has been awarded a 2-year grant from the Center for Produce Safety, a non-profit organization committed to addressing issues faced by the produce industry, to investigate C. cayetanensis presence in the United States.
“We will be testing surface water for the presence of Cyclospora cayetanensis, improving sample collection methods, and genotyping of the parasite,” said Ortega.
This professor is working to study the origin of the parasite in the U.S. in order to reduce the number of domestic cases of cyclosporiasis, keeping people healthier.
