The Sky Valley Chronicle reports that the King County Health Department announced Friday afternoon it had closed two Redmond restaurants – I Love Sushi and Sodexo’s Café Mario both located at Nintendo of America at 4600 150th Ave NE, Redmond, WA.
The eateries were “Closed by a Public Health food inspector on July 5, 2018 at 5:30 pm due to the imminent health hazard of an ongoing suspected foodborne illness investigation,” said a news release from the health dept.
Posted in E.coli, Uncategorized
The Knox County Health Department (KCHD) is concluding its investigation into a cluster of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157 infections. Fifteen confirmed cases of E. coli O157 were reported to KCHD recently. All cases were among children, nine were hospitalized and seven developed a complication of the infection called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). Of the children who were hospitalized, one remains in fair condition at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Lab results from the Tennessee Department of Health have confirmed two different strains of E. coli O157 caused the children to become ill.
Antimicrobial washing (AW), antimicrobial coating (AC), and a combination of washing followed by coating (AW+AC) were evaluated for their ability to inactivate artificially inoculated foodborne pathogens and native microbiota on strawberries stored at 4°C. Strawberries were inoculated with a six-strain composite of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella; treated by AW, AC, or AW+AC; and stored at 4°C for 3 weeks. The washing solution contained 90 ppm of peracetic acid, and the coating solution consisted of chitosan (1%, w/v), allyl isothiocyanate (1%, v/v), and corn-bio fiber gum (5%, w/v). The effectiveness of the antimicrobial treatments against E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella pathogens and native microflora on strawberries and their impact on fruit quality (appearance, weight loss, color, and firmness) were determined. By the end of storage, pathogen populations on strawberries were 2.5 (AW+AC), 2.9 (AC), 3.8 (AW), and 4.2 log CFU for the positive (untreated) control. AW+AC treatments also inactivated the greatest population of native microflora, followed by the AC treatment alone. AW+AC treatments showed additional antimicrobial effectiveness against these two pathogens and native microflora. Both AW+AC and AC treatments preserved the color, texture, and appearance of strawberries throughout storage. The coating treatments (AW+AC and AC alone) further reduced the loss of moisture throughout storage. The AW treatment was the least effective in reducing populations of pathogens and native microflora and in maintaining the quality of strawberries throughout storage. This study demonstrates a method to improve the microbiological safety, shelf life, and quality of strawberries.
Posted in E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Uncategorized
Despite their general low incidence, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia (E.) coli (STEC) infections are considered an important public health issue due to the severity of illness that can develop, particularly in young children. We report on two Austrian petting zoos, one in Tyrol (2015) and one in Vorarlberg (2016), which were identified as highly likely infection sources of STEC infections. The petting zoo related cases involved a case of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) due to STEC O157:HNM in 2015 and an outbreak of STEC O157:H7 infections affecting five young children and two adults in 2016. The HUS case accounted for 2.8% of the 36 STEC O157:HNM/H7 infections notified in Austria in 2015 (5,9% of 17 HUS cases). The seven cases described for 2016 accounted for 4.0% of the 177 human STEC infections documented for Austria in 2016, and for 19% of the 36 STEC O157:HNM/H7 infections notified that year. The evaluation of the STEC infections described here clearly underlines the potential of sequence-based typing methods to offer suitable resolutions for public health applications. Furthermore, we give a state-of-the-art mini-review on the risks of petting zoos concerning exposure to the zoonotic hazard STEC and on proper measures of risk-prevention.
A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://www.barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Petting-Zoo-Outbreaks-Table-7-26-17.xlsx
Posted in E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, STEC, Uncategorized, VTEC
RASFF-high count of Escherichia coli (2000; 12000; 16000 CFU/g) in praew leaves from Laos in the UK
People are being urged to take extra care when handling and preparing food as there has been an increase in E.coli infections in recent weeks.
E.coli is a bacterium that lives in the intestines of healthy humans and animals. Verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) is a particular type of E.coli that lives in the gut of healthy sheep and cattle. VTEC is a common cause of food poisoning, which can lead to symptoms such as bloody diarrhoea and abdominal cramps.
While patients usually recover within five to 10 days, some people, especially young children and older people, can suffer a complication called haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), in which the red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys fail. This happens in 5-8% of cases.
According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), almost 100 cases of VTEC have been notified over the last 10 days, which is three times higher than the figure for this time last year.
It is reminding people of the importance of always washing your hands before and after handling food, and always washing fruit and vegetables before consuming.
It is also reminding people of the importance of ensuring that minced meats are cooked all the way through.
“Eating meat, especially minced beef, that has not been thoroughly cooked all the way through to kill these VTEC bugs can cause food poisoning. Therefore, to ensure that minced meat burgers are safe to eat, they should be cooked to a core temperature of 75°C.
“VTEC can also be found in the stools of an infected person and can be passed from person to person if hygiene or hand-washing habits are inadequate. This is particularly common among toddlers who are not toilet trained. Family members and playmates of these children are at high risk of becoming infected,” the HPSC said.
According to the HSE’s assistant national director of public health, Dr Kevin Kelleher, while investigations have not identified a specific reason for the increase in VTEC infections, the current good weather probably has a role to play.
“We would like to remind people to be careful about food safety during this heatwave to protect themselves against food poisoning. This hot weather provides the right conditions for bacteria such as VTEC to grow and multiply on foods, which can lead to high numbers of cases of food poisoning in adults and children.
“Not washing hands after handling raw meat, not washing fruits and vegetables and undercooking minced meats, such as beef burgers, are common ways of getting food poisoning at this time of year,” he commented.
The HPSC and Safefood recommends four simple steps to reduce the risk of food poisoning:
-Clean – always wash your hands before and after preparing, handling and eating food, after using the toilet or after playing with animals
-Cook – make sure that food is cooked all the way through in order to destroy any harmful bacteria that might be present
-Chill – keep food cool in order to prevent bad bacteria from growing. Make sure that your fridge is at the correct temperature to keep cold foods chilled (5°C or below)
-Separate – to prevent cross-contamination, always separate raw and cooked foods during storage and cooking and never let raw food, for example raw meat, come into contact with ready-to-eat foods, such as salads.
African Journal of Microbiology
Foodborne diseases are those caused by the consumption of water and food contaminated by different causal agents such as: viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxins, among others, being considered an important public health problem global due to its incidence and mortality and for several years for the isolation of microorganisms that cause these diseases resistant to antimicrobials. Salmonella species is considered a food pathogen frequently responsible for infectious outbreaks through the consumption of contaminated food, also presenting resistance to different antimicrobials. Fishery products are recognized as an important source of food, nutrition, income and a source of livelihood for a large part of the world’s population. However, fish is also considered to be a vehicle that transmits different pathogens (Salmonella spp., Shigella species, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes among others) mainly due to inadequate hygiene practices along the food chain. The purpose of this article is to show in a general way a perspective of foodborne diseases, specifically those caused by bacteria of the genus Salmonella spp., through fish such as tilapia, the control and prevention measures of these pathogens in food, the phenomenon of resistance to antimicrobials by these bacteria isolated in food and fish around the world that exacerbates the problem in food safety and public health.
Posted in E.coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Shigatoxin, Shigella, Uncategorized
Health officials say dozens of people became very ill after eating at a restaurant in Taylorsville in Alexander County on Friday.Health officials said one person tested positive for E. coli, and more than 30 others are also sick after eating chicken at the restaurant.
Authorities did not positively identified the restaurant involved, but the Taylorsville location of Mexico Viejo posted a statement on their Facebook page Friday about sick customers
Ottawa, June 29, 2018 – The Butcher’s Blend is recalling certain extra lean ground beef products from the marketplace due to possible E. coli O157 contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.
| Brand Name | Common Name | Size | Code(s) on Product | UPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Extra Lean Ground Beef | Approx. 1 lb | None – Sold by The Butcher’s Blend at the Western Fair District Farmer’s Market on June 16, 2018 | None |
| Mitchell’s Butcher’s Blend / Old East Village Grocer | Extra Lean Ground Beef | Approx. 1 lb | Best Before JUN 23/18 | Starts with 0 200150 |
| Mitchell’s Butcher’s Blend / Old East Village Grocer | Extra Lean Ground Beef | Approx. ½ lb | Best Before JUN 23/18 | Starts with 0 200150 |
Federal officials say contaminated canal water near romaine lettuce growing fields is the likely source of the unusually virulent strain of E. coli that has sickened people across 36 states, killing five.
The outbreak is over, according to an update this afternoon from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency has confirmed 210 people with infections. Twenty-seven of the victims have developed kidney failure. The most recent victim became sick on June 6.
“Samples have been collected from environmental sources in the region, including water, soil, and cow manure. Evaluation of these samples is ongoing,” according to an update this afternoon from the Food and Drug Administration investigators.
“To date, CDC analysis of samples taken from canal water in the region has identified the presence of E. coli O157: H7 with the same genetic fingerprint as the outbreak strain. We have identified additional strains of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli in water and soil samples, but at this time, the samples from the canal water are the only matches to the outbreak strain.”
Posted in E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, food bourne outbreak, food contamination, food death, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Uncategorized
FoodWorld 