Category Archives: Clostridium botulinum

USA – Texas – Shigella and Botulism Outbreaks

Posted on December 12, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Shigella BlogShigella_stool

Shigella outbreak continues to hit Grayson County hard. Health Department officials say new cases are being reported every day.

News 12 last reported there were 36 cases just before Thanksgiving. But, in just 13 days that number has jumped to 61 confirmed cases in Grayson County.

A command center has been set up at the Health Department, where they say employees are working to stop Shigella from spreading.

Botulism Blog

On Friday, the Health Department was informed of the first potential case here in Amarillo. They soon began investigating and discovered three other possible cases.

Two of the patients matched the criteria and were given the antitoxin. Doctors say they are slowly improving.

All four patients are adults and are currently hospitalized.

“We’ve got a small group of people who know each other in some manner, we hope that there are no other cases, but we just want to do our due diligence and make sure that we are protecting our community by providing information,” Casie Stoughton who is the Assistant Director of the City of Amarillo Public Health Department.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, 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, Shigella

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Research – Information Clostridium botulinum

Posted on December 10, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Journal

Botulism is a rare, life-threatening paralytic illness caused by neurotoxins produced by an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. Unlike Clostridium perfringens, which requires the ingestion of large numbers of viable cells to cause symptoms, the symptoms of botulism are caused by the ingestion of highly toxic, soluble exotoxins produced by C. botulinum while growing in foods.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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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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Canada- Hot Dog Relish – Clostridium botulinum

Posted on November 8, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Botulism Blog

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced this week that Orange Blossom Farm is recalling Hot Dog Relish in response to a food safety investigation being conducted by CFIA. The relish was sold at St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market in Ontario in 500 ml containers.

The public health agency announced that the recall was triggered by CFIA inspection activities, which found the relish risky because it may permit the growth of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that produces botulinm toxin. When ingested, the toxin causes botulism poisoning, a potentially life-threatening illness.

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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, Laboraotry, Microbiology, Pathogen

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Canada -CFIA Recall Hot Dog Relish – Clostridium botulinum

Posted on November 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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Orange Blossom Farm is recalling Hot Dog Relish from the marketplace because it may permit the growth of Clostridium botulinum. Consumers should not consume the recalled product described below.

 Recalled products

Brand Name Common Name Size Additional Info
None Hot Dog Relish 500 ml Sold at St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market in Ontario.

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Posted in Bacteria, CFIA, 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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USA Research – New Clostridium botulinum Strain

Posted on October 24, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Scientific AmericanClost

Scientists have discovered a new strain—the first in 40 years—of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that is ultimately responsible for causing botulism. And although they have reported their findings in a scientific journal, the investigators have taken the extraordinary step of withholding key details of the discovery. That’s because the toxins made by C. botulinum are the most dangerous known to humankind and currently there is no antidote for a toxin generated by the new strain. The fear is that malevolent organizations or rogue governments might use the information to reverse engineer their own version of the new bug, making it a potent and real bioterrorism threat.

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Posted in Clostridium botulinum, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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USA – FDA – Smoked Products Recall – Clostridium botulinum Potential

Posted on October 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

FDAClost

Big Blue Fisheries is recalling ALL smoked products from all lots and codes,
various sizes, in vacuum packages because the products may not have been
properly cooked and have the potential to be contaminated with Clostridium
botulinum, a bacterium which can cause life-threatening illness or death.
Consumers are warned not to use the product even if it does not look or smell
spoiled. Because the products may not have been fully processed, product
contamination by spoilage organisms or pathogens could lead to illness if
consumed.

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

New Zealand – Fronterra Products Did Not Present a Threat

Posted on September 19, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Botulism BlogClost

Dairy products made by the New Zealand company Fonterra that were at the center of a global contamination scare this month did not contain a bacterium that could cause botulism and posed no food safety threat, New Zealand officials said on Wednesday.

The Ministry for Primary Industries said tests showed that whey protein concentrate manufactured by the world’s largest dairy processor contained Clostridium sporogenes, which cannot cause botulism but which at elevated levels can be associated with food spoiling.

Initial tests conducted by Fonterra and a New Zealand government research institute had indicated the presence of Clostridium botulinum, raising fears that infant formula and sports drinks made from the product and widely exported could be dangerous.

The botulism scare caused a recall of products made by multinational brands that may have contained the whey protein in markets like China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It also prompted bans in Russia and Sri Lanka.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

Hong Kong – Infant Formula – Clostridium botulinum

Posted on September 17, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Center for Food Safety

Food Alert – Not to Consume Milk Formula Produced from Ingredients Suspected of Contamination with Clostridium Botulinum

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Issue Date 2013-08-06
Source of Information The Centre for Food Safety (CFS)
Food Product Growing up formula [Updated on 17 September 2013: Recall Completed]
Name of Importer
Product name and Description Product name: Cow & Gate Happy Kid 3 (growing up formula for 1 to 3 years old) Importer: Danone Baby Nutrition (HK) Limited Package: 900 grammes Place of origin: New Zealand Batch: 3178 and 3179 Best before date: 27 June 2015 and 28 June 2015
Reason For Issuing Alert
 The concerned milk formula was produced from ingredients suspected to be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum
Action Taken by the Centre for Food Safety
 – The concerned importer has taken the initiative to recall the relevant product. The CFS will monitor closely the recall.
– The CFS will continue to keep close liaison with the New Zealand authority and the local trade, keep an eye on the latest development, and take appropriate actions whenever necessary. The CFS will also report the latest situation to the public to keep them abreast of the most updated situation.
Advice to the Trade
 – The trade should stop sale of the product.
Advice to Consumers – Members of the public who had purchased the product should immediately stop feeding it to their young children.
Further Information – The CFS press release
– Members of the public can call CFS’ designated hotline 3978 0600 operating between 9am and 9pm today (6 August) should they have any enquiries about the affected product. It will operate between 9am and 6pm from 7 to 9 August.
– The Department of Health has set up a hotline 2125 1111 for public enquiries. Operating hours are from 9am to 9pm today (6 August), and 9am to 6pm from 7 to 9 August.

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Posted in Clostridium botulinum, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

New Zealand – Fonterra – Botulism Updates

Posted on August 14, 2013 by | Leave a comment

NZ Farmer

A veterinarian and farm consultant doubts the recent Fonterra botulism scare was caused by a dirty pipe, and says he is sitting on material that will embarrass the dairy giant further.

Matamata veterinarian and farm performance consultant Frank Rowson says Fonterra should be tracing the source of the Clostridium botulinum bacterium back to farms or their own water supply.

He doubts Clostridium botulinum was caused by an old pipe at Fonterra’s Hautapu plant and said it had to get in there in the first place.

NZ Farmer

The Fonterra botulism contamination scare has claimed its first scalp – that of Gary Romano, the dairy industry veteran left to publicly front the crisis in New Zealand.

Romano has resigned as managing director of NZ Milk Products, the dairy company’s manufacturing operations division, effective immediately.

His departure from New Zealand’s biggest company was announced this evening in a four-paragraph statement which said chief executive Theo Spierings had accepted his resignation. Spierings will temporarily assume Romano’s day-to-day duties.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Research

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