Category Archives: EHEC

Scotland – Three Children Hospitalised E.coli O157

Posted on May 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Scotsman

THREE infants were being treated in hospital last night following a suspected E coli 0157 outbreak linked to the baby unit at a nursery school.

NHS Grampian confirmed that infection control specialists at the health authority are investigating two confirmed cases and four suspected cases of potentially deadly E coli O157 infection in children who attend Rose Lodge Nursery School in Aboyne, Royal Deeside.

The baby unit at the nursery school has been closed while investigations continue to identify the source of the bug. The garden in the grounds of the nursery in the heart of the village has also been declared out of bounds to the children but the nursery remains open.

The three children who have been admitted to hospital were all being cared for in the baby unit. There are a total of 40 children at the nursery, which takes children from six weeks up to the age of five.

NHS Grampian stressed yesterday the investigation to pinpoint a possible source for the bug was not focused solely on the nursery and that other potential sources of infection in the predominantly rural area were also being looked at.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

US Ground Beef Recall – E.coli Risk

Posted on May 21, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News 

Lancaster Frozen Foods and G&W Incorporated are recalling about 6,908 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli, according to the South Carolina meat and poultry inspection department.
 
Lab testing by the meat and poultry inspection department confirmed a positive result for E.coli in a ground product at Lancaster Frozen Foods. That lot was held by the company, but additional ungroud product from the same lot had been used in other production lots resulting in the recall.
 
No illnesses have been reported.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall

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E.coli HUS Syndrome

Posted on May 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin

These are 10 things you should know if your child has an E. coli infection or has been diagnosed with HUS:

  • When your child is diagnosed with E. coli and/or HUS, you should contact your local health department immediately because additional testing needs to be done to determine if your child’s case of E. coli-HUS is part of an outbreak of illnesses. This is important because you may be able to provide information to health officials that helps them find the source of the outbreak.
  • You should not throw away food you have that you suspect is the source of your child’s E. coli infection.  The food may need to be tested for the presence of E. colibacteria and may be the “smoking gun” that determines the source of the outbreak.
  • The food eaten immediately before onset of illness is generally not the cause of the illnessbecause the incubation period for E. coli is from 3 to 10 days.
  • Because of the long incubation period, finding the source of an outbreak of E. coli-HUS can be difficult.During that time, the contaminated food responsible for the illnesses may have been eaten or thrown out. Even if a specific food source is not found, the outbreak investigation may lead to a legally responsible party, such as a restaurant.
  • Quickly finding the source of an E. coli-HUS outbreak can help prevent additional illnesses.
  • The CDC recommends that antibiotics not be used for E. coli infectionsbecause these medications increase the risk of developing HUS. You should make sure your doctor is aware of this.
  • Medical research and better understanding of HUS by medical professionals has improved care for HUS patients, lowering the mortality rate. Even if your child is extremely ill, he or she will most likely survive.
  • HUS may result in major long-term complications, including chronic renal failure, neurologic dysfunction, and hypertension.
  • Even if your child appears to have recovered, he or she is at greater risk of developing kidney problems in the future, including renal failure, and may need a kidney transplant.

It should be noted that a closely related illness, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), is also caused by infection with  Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (generally E. coli O157). In adults, the diagnosis for E. coli victims with kidney failure is often TTP-HUS and often involves neurological problems, including stroke, that result in permanent brain damage.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, HUS, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research

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UK Sprout Producers Best Practice

Posted on May 9, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FPC

 Guidelines promoting best practice for sprout production are available for UK sprout producers thanks to an industry initiative led by the Fresh Produce Consortium in consultation with the Food Standards Agency.

The guide is free to Fresh Produce Consortium members.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O104, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety Alert, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen

HPA – UK – Campylobacter Still Number 1 in 2011

Posted on May 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA

Eighty three general outbreaks of foodborne infectious disease in England and Wales were reported in 2011 to the HPA’s electronic Foodborne and Non-foodborne Gastrointestinal Outbreak Surveillance System (eFOSS)[§]. In the previous year there were 63 outbreaks of foodborne diseases (figure 1).

The rise in the number of general outbreaks in 2011 could be due to the continued increase in outbreaks caused by Campylobacter spp (20/83 in 2011; 18/63 in 2010) and a rise in the outbreaks caused by Salmonella spp compared to the previous year (18 in 2011; 8 in 2010).

Outbreaks of campylobacter have increased since 2009 and concurrently campylobacter is now the most frequently implicated causative agent in reported outbreaks representing 24% of all outbreaks [1,2 ]. In 2011, as in preceding years, most campylobacter outbreaks were associated with consumption of undercooked poultry liver pâté or parfait f rom food service establishments [3,4]. Salmonella spp. accounted for 22% of the outbreaks, most of which were caused by an increase in S. Enteritidis non PT 4 (44%, 8/18) or S. Typhimurium (33%, 6/18). The next most frequently identified agents included: norovirus (10%, 8/83), VTEC O157 (10%, 8/83) and Clostridium perfringens (8%, 7/83)

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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Canada – 24 Cases E.coli 0157 Source Unknown

Posted on May 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

CBCNEWS

At least 24 people in New Brunswick are sick with symptoms of E. coli infection, including eight who are in hospital, but the source of the outbreak remains unclear.

“While laboratory testing continues, several cases have been confirmed as E. coli O157:H7, a severe strain that can sometimes cause serious illness.”

Authorities do have suspicions of the cause, based on some common food sources, he said. But he doesn’t want to say anything definite yet, he said.

“It is common products at this point that people have eaten. I don’t want to name one versus another one without any good evidence at this stage because it wouldn’t be good for people to, for example, stop eating any of a particular food, just because they might be afraid that they may become sick. We really don’t have good evidence.”

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been involved in testing some food products.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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USDA – New Traceback Policy for Ground Beef

Posted on May 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, USDA’s Under Secretary for Food Safety, announced in a press conference on May 2, 2012 that the government is changing its traceback policy for contaminated beef that test positive for shiga-toxin producing E. colibacteria (STEC).

“Our keys goals are to strengthen our ability to protect consumers and to bolster prevention-based public safeguards,” she said. “We are going to use traceback policies as a proactive measure, launching the investigations earlier to identify contaminated products before they reach consumers.”

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Research, USDA

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US – Kindergarten – E.coli Outbreak

Posted on April 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

EcoliBlog

According to Kentucky news media, as many as three Stanford Elementary School kindergarten students may have contracted E. coli according to Ronnie Deatherage, director of operations for the Lincoln County Public Schools.  State and local health officials are investigating the case and have examined the elementary school cafeteria without finding a cause. Two of the 5-year-olds became ill within the last few days, Deatheridge said. They are being treated at University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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FDA Reportable Food Registry – Microbiology/Allergens

Posted on April 26, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Reportable Food Registry is an electronic portal where food companies report issues with a food where that food is likely to cause illness. This report has a lot of interesting data about the break down of which commodities caused food safety issues.

Link to FDA PDF Report

Web Page Link

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, FDA, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Toxin

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US – Daycare Center 3 Children Sick with E.coli

Posted on April 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Ecoli Blog

KBIR reports, three children are in the hospital following an E. coli outbreakat a Cocke County daycare facility. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, three juveniles, all of whom attend the same daycare facility in Newport, were diagnosed with E. coli symptoms. The source of the bacteria is currently unknown, but managers of the facility are working with investigators, and the families of all children who attend the daycare have been contacted. State health department officials have not closed the facility, but are continuing to investigate the situation.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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