May be useful as a poster at Work, Schools or Factory as it is always good to keep the educational posters refreshed.
Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, EFSA, Eurofins Laboratories, Microbiology, Research, Salmonella
Tagged restaurants, salmonella
At least 269 people are suspected to have fallen ill in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 after eating at a restaurant in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency announced on Sunday. This is by far the largest E. coli outbreak in the nation’s history.
The number ill consist of 90 laboratory-confirmed cases and another 179 probable cases. Probable cases are those with exposure and corresponding symptoms, but who have not been tested for E. coli infection in a clinical laboratory.
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen
Tagged belfast northern ireland, e coli outbreak, food safety news, public health agency, science
RASFF – Salmonella in Rump Beef Meat in Italy sourced in Poland
RASFF – Yessotoxin in Mussels in Italy (Other Link BBB) Planktonic Algae (Dinoflagellates)
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, RASFF, Shellfish, Toxin, Yessotoxin
Tagged food, planktonic algae, science
A new report suggests that hospital food is frequently contaminated with the dangerous diarrhea bug Clostridium difficile (C. diff).
Houston researchers found that about one-fourth of nearly 100 hospital food samples they tested were positive for C. diff. Among the worst culprits: turkey, chicken, and egg products, vegetables and fruits, and desserts. Almost all were cooked.
It’s only one hospital. And no cases of human infection were linked to the food.
But together with past research, the findings suggest that contaminated food may be an important route of spread of C. diff in hospitals, says researcher Hoonmo Koo, MD, an infectious diseases specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
Moreover, the temperatures at which hospital foods are cooked may be too low to kill the bug, he says.
An infectious diseases expert not involved with the research says the major C. diff strains that contaminate food are different from the ones responsible for human disease.
C. diff has been recovered from pigs, cows, and chickens, and the bug has been found in retail meat and salad greens. A few studies have found that the C. diff strains found in animals are the same ones causing human disease, but others have found the opposite.
A 2008 CDC study concluded that “although they share similar clinical features, evidence suggests that the predominant strains causing C. diff [disease] in humans and different animal species are distinct.”
Overall, though, surprisingly few studies have examined the possible link between C. diff disease in food, animals, and humans, according to both the CDC and Koo.
So the researchers tested about 2 tablespoons of each food item served over 80 days at a university hospital in Houston. The number that tested positive for C. diff:
The Division of Public Health of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services in collaboration with Local Health Departments is investigating an outbreak of E. coli infection in 106 people who attended the Cleveland County Fair. Preliminary findings suggest animal exposure may be the source of this outbreak.
As of 2 p.m., 64 children* and 42 adults are known to be/have been affected by this outbreak. Twelve individuals* have been or are currently hospitalized. The county case counts are as follows: Cleveland County – 61, Gaston County – 18*, Lincoln County – 14, Catawba County – 1, Mecklenburg – 1, Union County – 3, Rutherford – 4, York County, South Carolina – 2, Cherokee County, South Carolina – 2 *this number includes one death related to the outbreak
Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Hand Washing, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen
Tagged local health departments
Unsafe drinking water continues to burden developing countries despite improvements in clean water delivery and sanitation, in response to Millennium Development Goal 7. Salmonella serotype Typhi and Vibrio cholerae bacteria can contaminate drinking water, causing waterborne typhoid fever and cholera, respectively. Household water treatment (HWT) systems are widely promoted to consumers in developing countries but it is difficult to establish their benefits to the population for specific disease reduction. This research uses a laboratory assessment of halogenated chlorine beads treating contaminated water to inform a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) of S. Typhi and V. cholerae disease in a developing country community of 1000 people. Laboratory challenges using seeded well water resulted in log(10) reductions of 5.44 (±0.98 standard error (SE)) and 6.07 (±0.09 SE) for Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and V. cholerae, respectively. In well water with 10% sewage and seeded bacteria, the log(10) reductions were 6.06 (±0.62 SE) and 7.78 (±0.11 SE) for S. Typhimurium and V. cholerae, respectively. When one infected individual was contributing to the water contamination through fecal material leaking into the water source, the risk of disease associated with drinking untreated water was high according to a Monte Carlo analysis: a median of 0.20 (interquartile range [IQR] 0.017-0.54) for typhoid fever and a median of 0.11 (IQR 0.039-0.20) for cholera. If water was treated, risk greatly decreased, to a median of 4.1×10(-7) (IQR 1.6×10(-8) to 1.1×10(-5)) for typhoid fever and a median of 3.5×10(-9) (IQR 8.0×10(-10) to 1.3×10(-8)) for cholera. Insights on risk management policies and strategies for public health workers were gained using a simple QMRA scenario informed by laboratory assessment of HWT.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume, sell or serve the food products described below because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella.
These recalls are part of an ongoing food safety investigation. This recall of peanut butter products in Canada is related to the expanding peanut butter product recall in the USA by Sunland Inc. due to possible Salmonella Bredeney contamination.
The following products are affected by this alert:
| Brand | Product | Size | UPC | Best By dates / Lot Codes |
Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunland Inc. | Raw In Shell Peanuts | 25 lb Bulk | Item# 10108 | Oct.12, 2012 to Oct.12, 2013 | ON (Certain stores) |
| PureFit | Peanut Butter Crunch bars | 56.7 g | 8 12787 00100 8 | 1 March 2013*; 12 July 2013 |
National |
| PureFit | Peanut Butter Crunch | Box of 15 | 8 12787 00200 5 | 1 March 2013*; 12 July 2013 |
National |
At least 950 people in the Netherlands are now known to have fallen ill in a Salmonella Thompson outbreak linked to salmon. Three elderly victims have died.
The outbreak was first reported October 1 after more than 200 Salmonella illnesses were linked to smoked salmon sold by Netherlands-based Foppen. Subsequent environmental testing revealed the presence of the outbreak strain of the bacteria in one of the company’s manufacturing plants in Greece.
Now the outbreak has grown to include almost 1,000 Dutch victims, three of whom have died, reported the Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) Thursday, according to MedicalXPress.
Meanwhile, health officials have identified a cluster of Salmonella Thompson infections in the U.S. The genetic fingerprint of this bacteria is indistinguishable from that of the strain causing the Dutch outbreak; however, patient interviews have revealed that Foppen smoked salmon was not a likely source of infection for these cases, according to Lola Russell, spokesperson for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella
Tagged food safety news, genetic fingerprint, science, smoked salmon
FoodWorld 