Category Archives: food bourne outbreak

USA – Minnesota Norovirus cases linked to Korean Oysters

Posted on June 26, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal

Health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain raw oysters harvested in Republic of Korea (ROK) due to possible norovirus contamination. The alert from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) includes the following oysters:

Frozen raw oysters, in half shell, Individual Quick Freezing (IQF), and block form, harvested between 2/10/2022 and 2/24/2022 and between 4/06/2022 and 4/21/2022 from Designated Area No. II, and exported by Dai One Food Co., Ltd. (KR-8-SP), and Central Fisheries Co., Ltd. (KR-6-SP), in Republic of Korea (ROK). More information can be found in the FDA advisory.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, Norovirus, Norovirus Oysters, outbreak

USA – Nationwide outbreak from Cyclospora tops 200; officials continue to seek source

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

The number of patients in a nationwide outbreak of infections from the foodborne Cyclospora parasite continue to increase, having reached 210 laboratory-confirmed cases.

Federal, state and local public health officials are investigating the outbreak, which is spread across 22 states and New York City, according to a June 22 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration have been tracking the outbreak since April 1. Additional infections could have started before that date.

Also, there are likely more than 210 people in the ongoing outbreak because of the lag time between when patients become ill and when confirmation testing can be completed and results filed with the CDC. Some sick people don’t seek medical attention, also impacting the outbreak count. The parasite is killed by using antibiotics. Specific tests are required to diagnose Cyclospora infections.

“No specific food items have been identified as the source of most of these illnesses. State and local public health officials are interviewing people with cyclosporiasis to find out what foods they ate before getting sick,” the CDC reported.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak

USA – Rare Salmonella type behind multi-country outbreak

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Almost 70 people became ill this past year as part of a Salmonella outbreak involving 11 countries, including the United States.

France has the most patients in the Salmonella Ball outbreak but two people from the U.S., aged 44 and 62, were ill in August 2022. They both reported travel to France.

Salmonella Ball is very rare in Europe. Between 2007 and 2021, only 52 cases were reported from 14 countries, with an average of three per year.

Information was shared in a Joint Notification Summary (JNS). These are not made public but Food Safety News has seen a copy. It is prepared by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and affected countries.

An ECDC spokesman said this week that the agency had not received any updates on the number of people or countries affected since the JNS was produced.

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Posted in Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Salmonella

USA – Broccoli was named as the source of the Cyclospora outbreak but the country of origin was not determined

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Public health officials have declared that imported broccoli was behind an outbreak from the Cyclospora parasite, but have closed their investigation without determining exactly where the produce came from.

The Food and Drug Administration announced that the outbreak has been determined to be over. The FDA reported that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with state and local officials, all concur that the outbreak has ended.

Twenty patients were confirmed as having been infected by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora, but their home states and ages have not been reported.

The outbreak was first reported by the FDA on May 24. The CDC has not posted any information about the outbreak.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak

Denmark – More sick from Salmonella and Campylobacter in 2022

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

SSI

Campylobacter was the cause of 5,142 registered cases of illness in Denmark in 2022, and salmonella was the cause of 899 cases. This is an increase for the second year in a row and thus at the same level as before the covid-19 pandemic. This appears from the annual report on the occurrence of zoonoses in Denmark for 2022.

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Posted in Campylobacter, Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, Foodborne Illness Death, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Salmonella

USA – FDA – Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Posted on June 22, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FDA

What’s New

  • For the outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. L(+) tartrate+ (ref #1157) in a not yet identified product, the case count increased from 31 to 33.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1159), the case count has increased from 28 cases to 34 cases.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1155), CDC, FDA, and state and local partners have determined that the outbreak has ended and have closed the investigation. Based on epidemiological investigations conducted by CDC and state and local partners, ill people reported eating broccoli before becoming sick. FDA and state and local partners conducted traceback investigations and determined that the product of interest was imported broccoli. FDA and state and local partners also collected and analyzed product samples and all samples were negative for Cyclospora. Due to the absence of supporting evidence collected from traceback and sample collection, investigators were unable to confirm a specific type or producer of imported broccoli as the source of the outbreak.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, food bourne outbreak, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Salmonella

Canada/USA – Gastrointestinal Illness Outbreak on Viking Neptune Cruise Ship Sickens Over 12% of Guests

Posted on June 21, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Cruise Law News

12.7% of the 838 passengers aboard the Viking Neptune cruise ship are experiencing abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 2% of the crew are also experiencing these symptoms of gastrointestinal illness (GI). Cruise lines are required to report GI cases to the CDC whenever 3% or more of the passengers experience symptoms.

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Posted in cruise ship, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak

USA – Multiple states report infections from Cyclospora; source evades investigators

Posted on June 21, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Cyclospora_LifeCycle201

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting a multi-state outbreak of infections from the Cyclospora parasite that has sickened almost 100 people.

As of the agency’s most recent outbreak update, 97 people from 14 states have been confirmed infected by the microscopic parasite. Sixteen people have required hospitalization because their symptoms were so severe. Public health officials have not reported any deaths.

The total number of sick people has not yet been reported to the CDC because of the time it takes for testing and confirmation testing. Some individual case counts reported so far this year by state authorities include Colorado with 62 patients who ate at a single restaurant. Outbreak investigations are also underway in 15 other states.

Prior to the current update, the CDC first reported on the outbreak on May 25. The first date of onset of the infections was April 1. No specific food items have been identified as the source of the parasite.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Parasite

Norway searches for source of E. coli outbreak; Austrian outbreak under investigation

Posted on June 20, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Norwegian officials are investigating an E. coli outbreak that has affected half a dozen people.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said six people, living in different parts of the country, are sick. E. coli O157:H7 with the same genetic profile has been detected in all patients.

Two people fell ill in October and November 2022, while the remaining four became sick in February, March and May this year. No-one has developed serious illness. They are between the ages of 14 and 49, and five are men.

Two patients live in Rogaland, while Viken, Trøndelag, Vestland, and Oslo all have one case each.

Meanwhile, several children have fallen ill with E. coli infections in a state of Austria beginning in late May.

In recent weeks, 11 children and young people, mostly from three childcare facilities in the Frastanz area, have contracted infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). The serotype was not mentioned by officials.

At least two children developed HUS and another four were hospitalized, said officials in the province of Vorarlberg.

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Posted in E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, STEC, STEC E.coli

France sees a rise in outbreaks in 2021

Posted on June 20, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

The number of outbreaks in France went up in 2021 but was still below 2018 and 2019 levels.

Figures from Santé publique France show there were 1,309 outbreaks affecting 11,056 people in 2021. A total of 512 people went to hospitals and 16 died.

Reported outbreaks rose from 1,010 in 2020 when figures were strongly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials.

For 327 incidents in 2021, a pathogen could be microbiologically confirmed in food or in at least one sick person per outbreak. A pathogen was suspected without microbiological confirmation for 734 outbreaks.

16 deaths in outbreaks
The most frequently microbiologically confirmed pathogen was Salmonella 147 times. It was mostly Salmonella Enteritidis, followed by monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium but the type was not known in 92 incidents. Confirmed Salmonella outbreaks were responsible for 935 patients and 166 hospitalizations.

Campylobacter caused 52 outbreaks with 178 patients and Bacillus cereus had 46 with 665 patients. Nineteen norovirus outbreaks sickened 493 and 11 histamine outbreaks affected 35 people.

Seven outbreaks were due to E. coli, six to Yersinia enterocolitica, four to Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and one each because of Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum, and Shigella.

The pathogen was identified in patients for 208 outbreaks, of which 143 were confirmed with Salmonella. Identification of the agent took place in food samples for 89 epidemics with 67 confirmed as Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium perfringens.

The top suspected pathogens based on epidemiological and clinical information, but not microbiologically confirmed, were the toxins Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium perfringens. For these three pathogens, 3,787 patients and 169 hospital trips were recorded.

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Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, E.coli, food bourne outbreak, Food Pathogen, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, pathogenic, Salmonella, STEC, Yersinia