The outbreak was reported to our office on May 4th. The investigation is ongoing.
We are still investigating the outbreak including identifying the source and commonalities among those that are ill.
Approximately 70 individuals have reported illness to the Health Department.
Many individuals have sought care with their primary physicians and/or urgent care. At this point we are aware of four individuals who were hospitalized due to their illness.
RASFF-foodborne outbreak suspected (STEC O26H11 eae+ stx2+) to be caused by raw milk reblochon from France in France
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Consumers, restaurants, and retailers should not eat, serve, or sell recalled eggs produced by Rose Acre Farms’ Hyde County farm. Throw them away or return them to the place of purchase for a refund.
The listeriosis epidemic is under control after product recalls, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said during his Budget Vote in Parliament.
Cape Town – The listeriosis epidemic is under control now that meat products from Enterprise and Rainbow Chicken have been recalled, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told Parliament on Tuesday.
“Since the recall, we have had fewer than five cases a week in the past five weeks compared to 40 a week before the recall,” Motsoaledi said during his R205bn Budget Vote in Parliament
Health24 spoke to Dr Juno Thomas, the Head of the Centre for Enteric Diseases at the NICD, about the severity of the situation. She asserted that while the death toll has risen, it is important to look at the cases as they continue to decline: from 90 cases to 40 cases a week.
She also explained that Listeria affects people with weaker immune systems, making babies and the elderly more vulnerable to the illness. According to Dr Thomas, pregnant women with Listeriosis pass the illness on to the baby through the placenta, “hence the severity in the baby”.
Regarding the second highest group, Dr Thomas attributes this to two factors. “Firstly, women in that group are of childbearing age, and secondly this age group has the highest statistics for HIV, making them a risk factor.”
NICD – Listeria Outbreak Statistics
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A salmonella outbreak attached to more than 200 million eggs has sickened 35 people, spreading across nine states.
NBC reports that 35 people across nine states have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak tied to a recall of more than 200 million eggs.
The eggs have been traced to egg-based producer Rose Acre Farms in Hyde County, North Carolina. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 23 people were sickened by the eggs, but since then the number has jumped to 35.
The 12 people that fell ill recently were in five different states along the East Coast.
According to NBC, the eggs were sold under different brands in a variety of retailers and restaurants. According to the CDC, 11 people have been hospitalized but no deaths have been reported.
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The hospitalization rate and hemolytic uremic syndrome case count in the deadly E. coli O157:H7 HUS outbreak that is linked to romaine lettuce has been very high. Typically, in an E. coli outbreak, about 30% of patients are hospitalized, and about 5 to 10% develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
But in this outbreak, the hospitalization rate is almost 50%, and 13% of those patients have developed HUS. Why is the hospitalization rate and the HUS rate so high in this particular outbreak?
Typically, the group most susceptible to developing HUS is children under the age of 5. The patient age range in this outbreak is from 1 to 88. There could be quite a few children sick, which may explain the high HUS rate.
Another explanation for the high HUS rate and the high hospitalization rate is the type of toxins the E. coli bacteria are producing. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria make two types of those toxins: Stx1 and Stx2. Unfortunately, the bacteria in this outbreak are making Stx2, which causes more damage to the body.
Another factor could be that the lettuce was contaminated with an unusually high number of bacteria. It takes just 10 E. coli bacteria to make someone sick. More bacteria can release more toxins and cause more damage.”
Posted in E.coli, E.coli O157, E.coli O157:H7, food bourne outbreak, food death, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, foodborne disease, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Uncategorized
At least five detainees have gotten sick in an apparent salmonella outbreak at a medium-security division of the Cook County Jail in Chicago.
Detainees at the jail’s Division 11, 3015 S. California Boulevard, “began experiencing symptoms of a gastrointestinal illness” last week, according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Over the weekend, five cases of salmonella were confirmed among the 54 detainees reporting symptoms.
Two of the detainees were hospitalized for their symptoms, the sheriff’s office said. One has since been returned to the jail and the other was expected to be returned to the jail on Tuesday.
A matched case–control study in Quebec, Canada, evaluated consumption of veal liver as a risk factor for campylobacteriosis. Campylobacter was identified in 28 of 97 veal livers collected concurrently from slaughterhouses and retailers. Veal liver was associated with human Campylobacter infection, particularly when consumed undercooked.
Recent investigations conducted in Quebec, Canada, after an increased number of sporadic campylobacteriosis illnesses suggested that consumption of veal liver may be a risk factor for campylobacteriosis. Many of the persons infected reported eating veal liver, and many of those had eaten it pink or undercooked. The association between campylobacteriosis and the consumption of meat products, including chicken liver and offal from different animal species, has been previously described (1–5). We designed an epidemiologic study to examine the relationship between veal liver consumption and campylobacteriosis.
Consumers, restaurants, and retailers should not eat, serve, or sell recalled eggs produced by Rose Acre Farms’ Hyde County farm. Throw them away or return them to the place of purchase for a refund.
Two South Australians have been hospitalised with Hepatitis A, believed to have been caused by them eating Creative Gourmet frozen pomegranate.
The product was recalled from Coles last month but SA Health is reminding South Australians to make sure they do not have the product in their freezers.
SA Health food and controlled drugs director Fay Jenkins said nationally there have been 11 cases linked to the outbreak, with two in South Australia.
“There’s a lady in her 60s and she is quite unwell and she is in hospital. There is a younger gentleman [aged 33] … and he’s actually been discharged from hospital,” Dr Jenkins said.
Symptoms of Hepatitis A include nausea, vomiting, fever, yellowing of the skin, dark urine and pale stools.
The infection can take from 15 to 50 days to develop.
FoodWorld 