Category Archives: Bacteria

USA – CDC – Solve the Outbreak App!

Posted on December 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment

solveoutbreak_cdc_200x200-v2CDC

Are you ready to work your way closer to becoming a Disease Detective? CDC has released an update to Solve the Outbreak, the popular, free iPad app that puts you in the shoes of a member of the Epidemic Intelligence Service. The app now has twice as many outbreaks as before, giving you double the opportunity to have fun.

The immensely popular app has had fans clamoring for more. So if you’ve been stuck as an Apprentice, now’s your chance to work your way through the new outbreaks to earn more badges!

New Features

New, exciting features such as:

  • sound effects,
  • new levels, and
  • achievements.

Work hard to earn an achievement such as Clever Clogs and Smarty Pants; but beware of the Grim Reaper and Underachiever if you fail to Solve the Outbreak.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, outbreak

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USA – USDA Salmonella Reduction Stratergy

Posted on December 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment

FDA FSISUSDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today released its Salmonella Action Plan that outlines the steps it will take to address the most pressing problem it faces–Salmonella in meat and poultry products. An estimated 1.3 million illnesses can be attributed to Salmonella every year.

“Far too many Americans are sickened by Salmonella every year. The aggressive and comprehensive steps detailed in the Salmonella Action Plan will protect consumers by making meat and poultry products safer.” said Under Secretary for Food Safety Elisabeth Hagen.

The Salmonella Action Plan is the agency’s strategy to best address the threat of Salmonella in meat and poultry products.  The plan identifies modernizing the outdated poultry slaughter inspection system as a top priority. By focusing inspectors’ duties solely on food safety, at least 5,000 illnesses can be prevented each year.

 

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Posted in Bacteria, FSIS, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella, USDA

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USA – Vibrio Outbreak Raw Oysters

Posted on December 4, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinVibrio

Vibrio outbreak associated with eating raw oysters and raw clams has sickened at least 104 people in 13 states over the last six months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Six people have been hospitalized.

Public health investigators have traced the source of some of these illnesses to shellfish harvest areas in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia. Massachusetts issued a recall of oysters,  Connecticut issued a recall of oysters and clams. Implicated harvest areas in Virginia were closed in July and remain closed.  In Massachusetts, they were closed in August and remain closed. In New York they were closed in June and reopened in mid-September. In Connecticut, they were closed in August and reopened in mid-September.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Methods, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Vibrio

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USA – Beef and Pork Product Recall E.coli STEC

Posted on December 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

E.coli BlogShiga_toxin_(Stx)_PDB_1r4q

Cloud’s Meats, Inc. is voluntarily recalling beef and pork products possibly contaminated with E. coli. following positive test results for non-0157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STECs) in samples of items produced mid-November. The samples were taken during routine testing conducted by the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Inspection Program November 14 and analyzed by the Department’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Springfield.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, EHEC, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, STEC

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Italy – Alert Over Clostridium botulinum – Olives

Posted on December 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment

IllfattoalimentareClost

The Ministry of Health has launched an alert for botulism involving two lots of olives brand Bel Colle.  The alarm goes back to November 26, 2013 following the emergency admission at the hospital Morgagni Forlì, a patient with severe symptoms due to suspected poisoning from Clostridium botulinum.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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Research – Bacterial Adaptation to Cold

Posted on December 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Microbiology

Micro-organisms react to a rapid temperature downshift by triggering a physiological response to ensure survival in unfavourable conditions. Adaptation includes changes in membrane composition and in the translation and transcription machineries. The  cold shock response leads to a growth block and overall repression of translation; however, there is the induction of a set of specific proteins that help to tune cell metabolism and readjust it to the new conditions. For a mesophile like E. coli, the adaptation process takes about 4 h. Although the bacterial cold shock response was discovered over two decades ago we  are still far from understanding this process. In this review, we aim to describe current knowledge, focusing on the functions of RNA-interacting proteins and RNases involved in cold shock adaptation.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Laboratory, Microbiology, Research

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RASFF Alerts – E.coli -Clams – Mussels – Bovine Meat

Posted on December 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

RASFF -too high count of Escherichia coli (490 MPN/100g) in live clams (Venus verrucosa) from Greece in Italy

RASFF -too high count of Escherichia coli (330; 1090 MPN/100g) in live mussels from France

RASFF – shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (presence /25g) in frozen boneless bovine meat (Bos taurus) from Brazil in the Netherlands

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, RASFF, Recall, STEC, Toxin

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RASFF Alerts – Campylobacter – Chicken – Bacillus cereus Toxin – Rocket

Posted on December 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

RASFF – Campylobacter coli (8 of 12 samples /25g) and Campylobacter jejuni (4 out of 12 samples /25g) in chilled boneless skinless chicken breast fillets from Poland in Denmark

RASFF – Bacillus cereus diarrheal enterotoxin (17000 CFU/g) in packed rocket from the Netherlands in Finland

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Posted in Bacillus cereus, Bacteria, Campylobacter, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Toxin

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RASFF Alerts – Listeria monocytogenes – Meat Spread – Chilli Sausage – Speck

Posted on December 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

RASFF -Listeria monocytogenes (presence /25g) in onion flavoured meat spread from Poland

RASFF -Listeria monocytogenes (presence /25g) in chilled chili sausage from Poland

RASFF -Listeria monocytogenes (>1500 CFU/100g) in chilled speck from Italy in France

 

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, RASFF, Recall

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Research – Campylobacter Chromosomes Mapped

Posted on December 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinCampylobacter

New research from the Institute of Food Research has mapped chromosomes of Campylobacter. Scientists are trying to understand how this pathogenic bacteria controls its genes to develop new strategies to fight it. In the UK, Campylobacter is the most common cause of foodborne diarrheal illness.

The chromosome map shows where all of the bacteria turns on its genes. Those are called transcriptional start sites (TSS).  The bacteria turns on different genes in response to changes in its environment. TSS are also how the bacteria evolved to adapt to new situations. All organisms have these control mechanisms.

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research