Category Archives: Brucellosis

USA – Researchers describe outbreaks in Brazil, Pakistan and Malaysia

Food Safety News

Abstracts from a cancelled event have been issued on outbreaks in Brazil, Pakistan and Malaysia.

The conference abstracts were scheduled to be presented at the International Congress on Infectious Diseases in September 2020 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but the gathering was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Studies in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases supplement involve E. coli O157, Staphylococcus aureus and Brucella.

The first study involves a deadly Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157:H7 outbreak with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) cases in Brazil.

Research- Data shows connection between unpasteurized milk and infections

Food Safety News 

After reviewing details of brucellosis illnesses from recent years, including a 19-state outbreak, researchers are saying their findings show a link between raw milk and such infections.

Although the researchers did not name the dairy farm associated with the multistate  outbreak, the CDC and the FDA investigated the those illnesses, which occurred during the period reviewed by the research team and were connected to raw milk from Miller’s Biodiversity Farm in Pennsylvania.

Information about the researchers’ work was published recently in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which is posted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group of researchers, made up of people from the CDC and a number of states’ agencies, says additional study is needed regarding the emerging health dangers of consuming raw milk.

USA – Delaware Warns Consumers Against Raw Milk After Brucellosis Case

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Delaware Division of Public Health is warning consumers to avoid consuming raw dairy products as a woman living in Sussex County has been diagnosed with a Brucella melitensis infection. This illness affects people who come into contact with sick animals or contaminated animal products.

Holland – Brucella suis Infection in Dog Fed Raw Meat, the Netherlands

CDC

A Brucella suis biovar 1 infection was diagnosed in a dog without typical exposure risks, but the dog had been fed a raw meat–based diet (hare carcasses imported from Argentina). Track and trace investigations revealed that the most likely source of infection was the dog’s raw meat diet.

Exposure risks for Brucella suis infection typically include contact with wildlife or livestock, breeding, and travel to brucellosis-endemic areas. We report a case of B. suis infection in a dog for which the risk was determined to be a raw meat–based diet.

FSA – French Cheese – Brucellosis Warning

FSA

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is warning people who may have bought any of three particular brands of reblochon cheese in France to discard them. The French authorities have issued an alert about potential contamination with the bacteria that causes brucellosis.

The cheeses, sold under the brand names of Le Campagnard, Gaston, and Pernet Mugnier Christian, are being recalled in France following the detection of the bacteria Brucella in the unpasteurised milk used to make them.

They were sold from February to April 2012 in 450g packs. The affected cheeses were not supplied to any businesses in the UK. However, the FSA is warning people who may have travelled to France and bought the products there, not to consume them.

If you have already eaten any of these cheeses and feel unwell, you should seek medical attention, and tell your doctor what you have eaten. No other raw milk cheeses, apart from those named, are implicated in this warning.

Brucellosis is a disease that usually affects livestock, including cattle. Infection of humans occurs through contact with infected animals or consuming unpasteurised (raw) milk or dairy products.

Brucellosis in humans is very rare in the UK, with most cases acquired abroad. Symptoms in humans vary. Some people experience no symptoms, or only a mild flu-like illness, while others experience chronic fever, which can recur for several years. Symptoms can occur up to a month after exposure.