A raw milk E. coli outbreak has sickened at least two people in Washington state, according to the Washington State Department of Health. The patients got sick in mid-January and early February 2024. The patients were sickened with the same, highly related strain of Shiga toxin-producing E coli (STEC) bacteria. Both patients drank raw, or unpasteurized, milk, produced by Cozy Vale Creamery in Tenino, Washington, shortly before getting sick.
A sandwich shop in the Mekong Delta’s Soc Trang Province, where over 150 people recently suffered food poisoning, has been fined VND90 million (US$3,650) and shut for four months.
Thu Ha banh mi shop on Hai Ba Trung Street also has to shell out over VND380 million for the treatment of the victims, the Soc Trang People’s Committee ruled.
Nearly 100 Holland America Line passengers got sick in a norovirus outbreak.
Among 2,522 guests on the cruise line’s Koningsdam ship, 98 reported being ill, along with 12 crew members, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their main symptoms were diarrhea and vomiting.
Koningsdam is currently sailing a round-trip cruise visiting Hawaii and French Polynesia that departed from San Diego on Feb. 17, according to CruiseMapper. Holland America and the ship’s crew increased cleaning and disinfection and isolated sick passengers and crew following the outbreak, among other steps, the CDC said.
The women, with underlying health conditions, died days after eating the pre-prepared sandwiches – prompting an investigation into a national listeria outbreak, with cases outside the hospital.
A foodborne outbreak of Salmonella was investigated by the California Department of Public Health and the Tulare County Department of Public Health in August 2023. Kaweah Health Hospital Infection Control notified the health department of a number of Salmonella cases with exposure to BBQ food over the weekend of August 5 weekend. This outbreak was given the code OB20232037.
A total of 39 (29 lab-confirmed and 10 probable) cases were identified as part of this outbreak. Reported exposures occurred between July 29 and August 6, 2023. Illness onsets occurred between July 30 and August 11, 2023. Most cases reported experiencing diarrhea (some bloody), abdominal pain, vomiting, and fever. Twelve cases reported hospitalization, and no cases died. Fifty-eight percent of cases were male. The majority of cases were between 50 and 74 years of age.
According to officials, the outbreak strain has been found at a farm that supplied the milk used to make unpasteurized cheese, which was linked to an E. coli outbreak in the UK.
In total, 36 confirmed and one probable Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O145 infections have been reported, with 29 in England and eight in Scotland since late July 2023, with most falling ill in November. The last reported primary patient had symptom onset on Dec. 23, 2023.
Twenty patients were female, with ages of all cases ranging from 7 to 81. Of the 31 patients with available information, 20 had bloody diarrhea, 15 were admitted to the hospital, and four also attended the hospital for their symptoms. One person developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and later died.
An investigation into the outbreak by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the local authority, Public Health Scotland, Food Standards Agency (FSA), Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA) is nearly completed.
In the May of 2023, a significant increase in Cyclospora cases associated with a Mexican-style restaurant in Limestone County, Alabama was investigated by the Alabama Department of Public Health. An outbreak investigation was initiated on June 7, 2023. A case control study was launched on June 12. Exposures were reported between May 20 and June 6, 2023.
At least sixteen people who were infected in the E.Coli outbreak over Christmas ate ready meals containing unpasteurised cheese from a Preston business in the first class carriage of a train, Blog Preston has learned.
The investigation into E.Coli that led to dozens of people being infected, and one person dying, has also now concluded there is a ‘proven link’ between Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese Ltd, which operates in Goosnargh, and the outbreak.
Mrs Kirkham’s was forced to issue a product recall on Christmas Eve 2023 over fears their unpasteurised cheese contained the harmful bacteria.
The Food Standards Agency has previously said that Mrs Kirkham’s acted ‘quickly and responsibly’ to take that action in December once the potential link had been established. Mrs Kirkham’s also received messages of support from the Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association and The Courtyard Dairy,
At the end of September 2022, the Public Health Agency of Sweden (PHAS) observed an increase of domestic Salmonella cases reported by treating physicians and clinical microbiological laboratories through the Swedish national electronic notification system for notifiable diseases (SmiNet). Data obtained from regional clinical microbiological laboratories performing subtyping of Salmonella isolates on serogroup level suggested that Salmonella serogroup B was causing the national increase of cases.
On 4 October 2022, PHAS identified a cluster of eight cases of S. Typhimurium belonging to the 7-gene multilocus sequence type (ST) 19 based on whole genome sequencing (WGS), suggesting a common source. The cluster was identified as part of the PHAS microbial surveillance programme, which is based on voluntary submission of metadata and isolates of Salmonella from domestic cases, by the regional clinical microbiological laboratories. At PHAS, typing is performed using WGS and conventional slide agglutination can be done if needed.
On 7 October 2022, a national outbreak was declared, following the laboratory confirmation of another 11 cases belonging to the cluster distributed in 11 of 21 Swedish regions. The outbreak control team was coordinated by PHAS and included the Swedish Food Agency (SFA) and regional departments of communicable disease control and prevention (CDC).
We describe an outbreak investigation of S. Typhimurium in Sweden linked to cases in Finland, in September–November 2022. We collaborated with Finnish authorities and aimed to assess the extent of the outbreak, identify its source and initiate appropriate control measures to prevent further cases.
Finnish officials are investigating the connection between a hepatitis E-positive meat product and a rise in infections in the country.
In January and February, 81 hepatitis E cases from different parts of Finland were reported to the Infectious Disease Register. Half of these people have required hospital treatment. Between 20 and 60 hepatitis E cases are reported to the Infectious Disease Register annually. In 2023, there were 30 cases. In January 2023, only one Hepatitis E infection was reported in the register.
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