Category Archives: foodbourne outbreak

France – Raw milk cheese sickens six children in France – STEC E.coli O26

Posted on December 18, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

A cheese made from raw milk has been linked to half a dozen serious E. coli infections in France.

Six cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) have been reported. HUS is a severe complication associated with E. coli infections that causes kidney failure.

Following severe diarrhea, young children attending the Minimes crèche in Toulouse had to be hospitalized in November. Stool cultures revealed Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infection. Cheese has tested positive for E. coli O26.

The crèche was closed for a few days, but has since reopened. Samples from surfaces were taken and analyzes of the meals were carried out as well as a thorough cleaning of the premises.

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Posted in E.coli O26, E.coli O26 :H11, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, Raw Milk, raw milk cheese, STEC, STEC E.coli

USA – Sushi 9 may be linked to 240 Norovirus cases

Posted on December 15, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal

Norovirus Food Safety kswfoodworld

WRAL News reports that as of today there are now 241 complaints from people who ate at Sushi Nine since November28, the date the first customers became ill. Since WRAL News first reported the outbreak on Nov. 30, three stool samples collected from complainants have tested positive for norovirus, a contagious virus that causes vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain, among other symptoms.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, Norovirus, outbreak

RASFF Alert – Outbreak – E.coli – Sweden -Parsley

Posted on December 15, 2023 by | Leave a comment

RASFF

Parsley suspected to be the source of an outbreak with pathogenic E. coli (ETEC/EPEC/EAEC) in Sweden

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Posted in EAEC, EPEC, ETEC E.coli, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, RASFF

China sees drop in foodborne disease outbreaks

Posted on December 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Xinhua

China has witnessed a notable decline in outbreaks of foodborne diseases, signaling positive progress on food-safety management, according to the country’s National Health Commission (NHC).

The achievement is attributed to the implementation of a national food-safety risk-monitoring program, Cao Xuetao, deputy head of the NHC, said on Tuesday.

Foodborne diseases, commonly known as food poisoning, represent a critical global public health concern.

In recent years, the NHC has introduced three major monitoring systems to improve awareness of food-safety risks. These systems focus on monitoring individual cases of foodborne diseases, tracking outbreaks of such diseases, and establishing a molecular traceability network to identify the sources of foodborne illnesses.

Global Times

China’s food safety governance has made positive progress with a decrease of 11 percent in the number of foodborne disease outbreaks and a 33.9 percent reduction in the number of related deaths since the beginning of the period covered by the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), officials from the National Health Commission (NHC) revealed at an event in Beijing on Tuesday during Food Safety Awareness Week.

Li said that according to the foodborne disease monitoring network, from 2010 to 2022, a total of 46,430 foodborne disease outbreaks were reported nationwide (an average of 3,572 per year, among which 1,024 cases were due to mushroom poisoning), with 330,870 cases of illness (an average of 25,452 per year) and 1,679 deaths (an average of 129 per year, among which 70 were caused by mushroom poisoning).

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, Foodborne Illness Death, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak

USA – FDA Core Outbreak Table – Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Posted on December 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FDA

What’s New

  • For the outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes (ref #1205) in a not yet identified food, FDA has initiated traceback, an on-site inspection, and sample collection and analysis.
  • For the outbreak of Salmonella Newport (ref# 1201) in a not yet identified food, the case count has increased from 43 to 44 cases.
  • For the outbreak of Salmonella Sundsvall and Oranienburg (ref #1203) linked to cantaloupe, the recall was expanded to include additional retailers and wholesalers who received the recalled melons. See the Outbreak Advisory for additional information.

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Posted in CORE Investigation Table, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, outbreak, Salmonella, Salmonella Cantaloupes

USA – Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Onions (October 2023) – CDC Outbreak is Over

Posted on December 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FDA

Sample Product Image from the Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella Related to Onions (October 2023)

Product

Recalled Gills Onions-brand diced yellow onions, diced onions & celery, diced mirepoix, and diced red onions with use-by dates in August 2023.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) investigation is complete; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declares the outbreak over.

Stores Affected

  • Recalled Gills Onions were sold to foodservice and institutions nationwide and in Canada. The firm has directly notified foodservice customers who received recalled product.
  • Recalled product was sold to retailers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, investigated an outbreak of Salmonella infections linked to recalled diced onions under the Gills Onions brand name.

As part of this investigation, FDA collected multiple water, environmental, and product samples from the farm that supplied the contaminated onions to Gills Onions. Six of the samples, three water and three environmental, were positive for Salmonella spp. Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) analysis confirmed that the strain of Salmonella found in isolates associated with three of the samples matched the same strain of Salmonella causing illnesses in this outbreak. Additional Salmonella isolates from the samples were detected, and CDC identified people who got sick with these strains of Salmonella. FDA and CDC partners reviewed the available data; however, there was not enough epidemiologic or traceback evidence to implicate a product or source of contamination for those illnesses.

As of December 4, 2023, CDC announced that the outbreak is over. CDC reports a total of 80 illnesses in 23 states. There has been a total of 18 hospitalizations and one death associated with this incident. The last illness onset was November 11, 2023. FDA’s investigation is complete.

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Posted in CDC, FDA, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, Salmonella, WGS

USA- 140 Illnesses Linked To Sushi Nine Restaurant In Raleigh

Posted on December 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning News

On the seventh of December, 2023, WRAL News announced an outbreak of 140 illnesses connected to the sushi restaurant, Sushi Nine. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based restaurant received notifications from consumers with adverse reactions after having consumed sushi at its business.

While a virus is believed to be the cause, the blame is under investigation. According to local reports, patrons reported experiencing symptoms that correlate similarly with those of Norovirus, often referred to as the “winter vomiting disease.” One victim, Austin Freels, shared details of his illness following eating sushi at Sushi Nine, while with family and friends a few days prior to his wedding. Austin experienced “agonizing” stomach pain, and mentioned to WRAL that while at the Emergency Room, he was told by health professionals his food poisoning case was “…one of the most severe cases…they had seen…”

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Virus, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, Norovirus, outbreak, Virus

Research – Multi-country outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes linked to fish products

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

EFSA

Between 2022 and 2023, the outbreak has affected Austria, Belgium, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, with reports of 17 cases and two deaths. Infections have occurred mainly in the elderly. Historical human cases related to the outbreak have been detected since 2011.

Advanced molecular typing techniques identified a variant of Listeria monocytogenes which was detected in the majority of the 2022-2023 cases. The analysis of the data suggests a connection to two establishments in Lithuania during the same period. These establishments were found to have introduced contaminated fish products into the retail markets of Germany and Italy. Production has been stopped in a Lithuanian plant, likely reducing the risk of infections. Data regarding the distribution of contaminated products in Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands is currently not available.

EFSA and ECDC experts say that further investigations are needed to identify the origin of the contamination. This will allow national authorities to implement targeted control measures and mitigation actions. Experts also recommend following good manufacturing practices, hygiene rules, and effective temperature control throughout the entire food production, distribution, and storage chain, including in households. Consumers are advised to maintain low refrigerator temperatures to inhibit the potential proliferation of bacteria such as Listeria which could be present in ready-to-eat foods.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria Smoked Fish, outbreak

Swedish E. coli cases linked to imported parsley

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Contaminated parsley imported from southern Europe has been linked to at least 150 E. coli cases in Sweden.

Over 100 people were infected by Enterotoxigenic E.coli (ETEC) and Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) after eating food during a conference in Jönköping at the end of October. A similar outbreak sickened 50 people in Stockholm.

In Stockholm, people were infected around the same time at a restaurant that served parsley from the same producer. This led health officials to believe it was likely parsley from Italy that caused the outbreaks.

A total of 104 participants at the conference reported they had suffered illness. Samples were taken from four cases. Analysis showed they were infected with different combinations of pathogenic E. coli such as ETEC, EPEC, and Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC).

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Posted in E.coli, EAEC, EPEC, ETEC E.coli, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak

Research -High technology is the key to detecting foodborne outbreaks over space and time

Posted on December 12, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Lex Blog

Most people think of foodborne illness outbreaks as spanning a few days or weeks. But, with current technology, disease detectives can find patients of a single outbreak spread across several years and multiple states.

That is the case with an ongoing outbreak of Listeria illnesses linked to fresh peaches that began in 2018. So far, 11 patients have been identified, most recently found in August this year. One of the patients died. Recent recalls of peaches, nectarines, and plums have been initiated while public health officials continue investigating the outbreak.

The links between people sickened in the outbreak this year and the initial patient in 2018 were made possible using whole genome sequencing (WGS). Whole genome sequencing has been likened to fingerprinting used in criminal investigations, but WGS allows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to look at millions of pieces of data.

“WGS examines more than 4.5 million ‘letters’ of the genetic code in disease-causing bacteria such as Salmonella. Bacteria closely related by WGS are more likely to have originated from the same source than more distantly related bacteria,” said John Besser, who retired in 2019 as Deputy Chief of the Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch at the CDC. He continues to work on CDC-related projects through the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

“Ill persons in a WGS cluster will likely have shared exposure, such as a contaminated food product. By focusing on WGS clusters, investigators can detect outbreaks when they are small, even if cases are dispersed over multiple states or widely separated in time.”

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Posted in CDC, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Microbiology Research, Food Technology, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, Research, Technology, WGS