Category Archives: Foodborne Illness

UK – Honey and Botulism

Posted on January 27, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Botulism BlogClost

Two British babies have contracted a rare life-threatening disease triggered by eating honey.

The boys, aged three months and five months, had to be put on life-support machines suffering from infant botulism.

Both had been feeding badly and showed typical symptoms – a floppy head, drooping eyelids and constipation. They were cured only after medication costing £50,000 a dose was flown in from America.

The incidents, confirmed last week, have prompted public health chiefs to warn that infants under one should not be given honey.

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

Australia – Kebabs – STEC E.coli

Posted on January 21, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning JournalEcoli Istock

NSW Health has been notified of four recent cases of a rare bacterial gastroenteritis, prompting NSW Health to issue an alert, particularly to people who may have purchased food at Kenny’s Kebabs at Miranda Fair in January.

Director of South Eastern Sydney Public Heath Unit, Professor Mark Ferson said the 4 patients with bloody diarrhoea caused by Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) bacteria infection were reported yesterday in patients from the Sutherland/St George area

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, STEC, Toxin

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Japan- Norovirus Outbreak in Bread – 1000 Cases

Posted on January 21, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Japanese TimesEurofins

Bread maker Hofuku, which has admitted one of its products is probably responsible for causing more than 1,000 children in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, to suffer food poisoning, has started recalling its products from retailers, including supermarkets in Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Aichi and Okayama prefectures.

According to the Hamamatsu Municipal Government, the bread the local company produced Monday and delivered to schools Tuesday morning is likely to have been tainted with the norovirus.

Japanese News

Three female workers at a Higashi Ward, Hamamatsu, bakery were identified as carriers of norovirus.

The bakery is suspected to have been the cause of a mass food poisoning that affected many primary schools in the city, according to the Hamamatsu city government.

The city government announced Sunday that workers at Hofuku, a company that produced bread deemed to be the cause of the norovirus outbreak, were found to be infected with the virus.

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Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Virus

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USA – Food Sickness Outbreak in December was Norovirus – 282 People

Posted on January 20, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning BulletinNorwalk_Caspid

Norovirus was the cause of a December food poisoning outbreak that sickened 282 people who ate at a Jimmy John’s restaurant in Garden City, Kansas, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has confirmed.  State and county officials worked together to determine the source of the outbreak which sickened customers who visited the restaurant from December 10 to December 24.

The restaurant was inspected by the Kansas Department of Agriculture on December 18 and again on December 24. It closed voluntarily from December 24 through December 26 to clean and disinfect the restaurant

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Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Laboratory, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research

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USA – Two Shigella Outbreaks – Texas and Cleveland

Posted on January 20, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Shigella Blog220px-Shigella_stool

Public Health officials are seeing a rise in Shigellosis cases in the Cleveland area, especially among children. As a result, the Cleveland Department of Public Health is encouraging parents, schools, daycare centers, and health care providers to take precautionary actions to prevent the spread of Shigellosis.

Shigellosis is a highly contagious form of diarrhea caused by Shigella bacteria. Shigella spreads from person to person contact and may cause severe diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Parents of children, or anyone with symptoms of Shigellosis should contact their healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment.

Symptoms may last from 48 to 72 hours and frequently include diarrhea (may be watery or bloody), fever, and stomach cramps. School aged children and children in daycare centers should not return to school until symptoms have ceased and laboratory cultures test negative for Shigella.

Shigella Blog

Four more cases of Shigella have been reported in Grayson County bringing the total countywide cases to 98.

Shigella began spreading in November mainly at Sherman and Denison ISD.

Officials with the Grayson County Health Department hoped that school winter breaks would halt the spread of the bacterial infection.

Amanda Ortez with the department says she believes children with shigella, home for the holidays, have been infecting their family members.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Recall, Shigella

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Canada – E. Coli From Eating Raw Meat

Posted on January 16, 2014 by | Leave a comment

ecoliFood Safety News

Seven people are sick from E. coli after eating a raw meat dish at Marché 27 in Montreal.

The owner of the restaurant, Jason Masso, told the CBC that he’s been serving tartare at Marché 27 for six years and has never had a problem until now. He also said that the problem has been addressed and that his restaurant is safe.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Pathogen

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USA – Salmonella Prison Outbreak – MR Chicken

Posted on January 16, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning JournalSalm2

As of January 13, 2014, a total of 9 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg have been reported from Tennessee.

Two (22%) of 9 ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

All of the ill persons were incarcerated at a single correctional facility located in Tennessee.

Epidemiologic and traceback investigations conducted by Tennessee and federal officials indicate that consumption of Tyson brand mechanically separated chicken is the likely source of the outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections at the Tennessee correctional facility.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Salmonella, Uncategorized

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Research Salmonella Biofilm Resistance

Posted on January 16, 2014 by | Leave a comment

ASMOrg Salmonella

Salmonellosis is the second most common cause of food-borne illness worldwide. Contamination of surfaces in food processing environments may result in biofilm formation with a risk of food contamination. Effective decontamination of biofilm contaminated surfaces is challenging. Using the CDC biofilm reactor, the activity of sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide and benzalkonium chloride were examined against an early (48 hours) and relatively mature (168 hours) Salmonella biofilm. All 3 agents result in reduction in viable counts of Salmonella, however only sodium hydroxide resulted in eradication of the early biofilm. None of the agents achieved eradication of mature biofilm, even at 90-minutes contact time. Studies of activity of chemical disinfection against biofilm should include assessment of activity against mature biofilm. The difficulty of eradication of established Salmonella biofilm serves to emphasise the priority of preventing access of Salmonella to post-cook areas of food production facilities.

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Posted in Bacteria, Biofilm, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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Australia – Salmonella Outbreak Closes Restaurant in Melbourne

Posted on January 8, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Courier MailSalm

MORE than a dozen people have fallen ill after eating from a Melbourne restaurant that has been shut down after a salmonella scare.

The Hao Phong restaurant in Footscray was closed by health authorities on Tuesday after two diners were taken to hospital for salmonella poisoning, a Victorian health department spokesman said.

The Maribyrnong City Council confirmed a number of people had fallen ill after eating at the restaurant between December 27 and 31.

There are up to 13 suspected cases involving people who ate at the restaurant, the council confirmed.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Salmonella

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USA – Salmonella in Nuts

Posted on January 7, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning Bulletin Eurofins

The current multi-state Salmonella outbreak linked to non-dairy cheeses made from raw cashews is not the first to be linked to nuts. During the last decade, illnesses from Salmonella have been linked to a variety of nuts including pine nuts, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and almonds.

The current outbreak has sickened 14 people in three states: twelve in California, one in Nevada and one in Wyoming. Three people have been hospitalized. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has noted that outbreak strain of Salmonella Stanley is rarely seen outside of Southeast Asia where the cheese maker, Cultured Kitchen of West Sacramento, sources its cashews.

The article also includes discussions of other USA outbreaks.

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Posted in Bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Laboratory, Methods, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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