A Salmonella outbreak in England that sickened more than 60 people earlier this year has been linked to eggs from Poland.
Samples from patients are also similar to previously reported isolates that fall into a cluster that is part of several national and international investigations.
There were 65 cases associated with the English outbreak; 25 confirmed and 18 probable infections linked to a restaurant, ten confirmed with unknown links to the establishment, and 12 with no link to the restaurant.
The outbreak linked to the unnamed restaurant was reported to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) East of England Health Protection Team in early April. UKHSA was notified of multiple cases of gastroenteritis following food consumption at the site, with attendance or takeaway dates in late March, according to a study published in the journal Eurosurveillance.
Posted in 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, Polish Chicken Salmonella, Salmonella, Salmonella in Eggs, Salmonella Poland
Officials in the Seattle/King County area of Washington are investigating an outbreak of infections from Salmonella Berta. One-third of the patients have required hospitalization.
Public Health Seattle & King County announced the investigation into the outbreak on July 10. All six outbreak patients have been tested using whole genome sequencing and have shown infection from a specific type of Salmonella. The testing shows that all of the patients were likely infected from the same source,
According to the health department, patients’ symptom onset ranges from April 12 through June 5.
“Public Health conducted interviews with the people sick with salmonellosis to identify potential common exposures and identified that some common exposures were pork and seafood. Environmental Health Investigators began traceback of meat products on June 21, 2023. They collected invoices from different places where some people got food and conducted inspections. A common location or source has not been identified,” according to the department’s outbreak notice.
The investigation is ongoing.
Document published this year by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health (ANSES).
Focused on enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia Coli (STEC), producer of shigatoxin and responsible for serious foodborne infections in young children, the elderly and immunosuppressed people.
In this report, ANSES classifies the strains of bacteria responsible for severe forms of infection. It also issues recommendations to improve monitoring of the risks of contamination of products before they are placed on the market.
Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli are responsible for a number of disorders, ranging from mild diarrhea to more severe forms, such as bloody diarrhea and severe kidney damage called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). Infections mainly affect young children, especially those under 5 years of age, the elderly, and immunosuppressed people. Approximately 140 cases of childhood HUS are identified each year.
In France, the foods most often implicated in outbreaks of EHEC infections are minced meat fillets, eaten raw or undercooked, and raw milk cheeses. The flours can also be contaminated, so the consumption of raw or undercooked pizza dough was the origin of an epidemic in 2022.
Among the advice addressed to consumers we find that of not eating raw or undercooked foods when they are intended to be eaten cooked. In addition, for more sensitive populations such as children, it is recommended to thoroughly cook (70 °C) minced meat and minced meat products, avoid consumption of raw milk and raw milk products (with the exception of cooked pressed cheeses). ) and avoid eating raw or undercooked flour-based products (cookie dough, etc.).
Since June 2017, there is a persistent cross-border outbreak of Salmonella virchow ST16 to five countries in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). .
A total of 210 cases have been reported to the following countries: Denmark (2), France (111), Germany (26), Ireland (4), the Netherlands (34), the United Kingdom (32) and the United States (1) . Hospitalization rates range from 16.7% (2/12) in the UK, to 29.4% (5/17) and 38.5% (10/26) in France and Germany, respectively.
No deaths have been reported. Most of the cases have been linked to local restaurants serving kebab meat. The number of confirmed cases represents only a small proportion of all infections in the EU/EEA, partly because of different genome sequencing (WGS) capacities by countries.
New infections are likely to occur in the EU/EEA affecting any age group, until further investigation is carried out to identify the sources and points of contamination along the chicken meat production chain.
Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Salmonella, Salmonella in Chicken
As many as 40 people were hospitalized following an incident of food poisoning at Sivasagar’s Bokota Kaivarta village, reports emerged on Monday.
The doctors have assumed the poisoning to be caused due to consumption of food at a religious ceremony held at the village.
The affected persons reportedly showed symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and fever after consuming the food.
More than 100 people are sick in a new outbreak of infections caused by the microscopic Cyclospora parasite, but federal officials have not yet determined the source.
As of July 6, the Food and Drug Administration reported 105 patients had been confirmed in the outbreak. The agency has not reported where the patients live.
Public health officers from the FDA have begun sample collection and analysis, but the agency has not reported what food or foods are being tested.
The new outbreak of Cyclospora infections is the third the FDA has reported so far this year. One of the investigations has been closed without the agency determining the source of the microscopic parasite.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking another outbreak that has sickened 210 people across 22 states as of its most recent update in June. Thirty people in the outbreak have been so sick they required hospitalization.
In the Center for Disease Control’s weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) for the week of July 7, 2023, a cyclospora outbreak “partially attributable” to a Caesar salad kit was revealed. This secret 2022 cyclospora outbreak sickened at least 161 people in the state of Florida.
Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak
Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal infection caused by a protozoan parasite, Cyclospora cayetanensis. This species is only known to infect humans and is acquired when oocysts are ingested through food or water contaminated with feces that contain the parasite. The illness was first reported in 1979, and the organism was identified and named in 1994 (1). Historically, infections were typically acquired outside of the United States or from produce that was imported into the United States (1). In recent years, the number of reported U.S. cases has been increasing: cases more than doubled from 537 in 2016 to 1,194 in 2017, and then nearly tripled, to 3,519 cases in 2018; in 2019, 4,703 cyclosporiasis cases were reported.* Recently, the parasite has been found on domestically grown produce (2), and infections have been attributed to these foods (3). Produce washing will decrease but not eliminate the parasite (1).
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
| Date Posted |
Ref | Pathogen or Cause of Illness |
Product(s) Linked to Illnesses (if any) |
Total Case Count |
Status |
| 7/6/2023 | 1163 | Cyclospora cayetanensis |
Not Yet Identified |
105 | Active |
| 6/14/2023 | 1157 | Salmonella Paratyphi B var. L(+) tartrate+ |
Not Yet Identified |
34 | Active |
| 6/14/2023 | 1159 | Cyclospora cayetanensis |
Not Yet Identified |
37 | Active |
| 5/24/2023 | 1156 | Salmonella Enteritidis |
Raw Cookie Dough |
See Advisory |
Active |
| 4/26/2023 | 1152 | Not Yet Identified |
Morel Mushroom |
See Advisory |
Active |
| 3/1/2023 | 1143 | Hepatitis A Virus |
Frozen Strawberries |
See Advisory |
Active |
Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, FDA, 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, Hepatitis A, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Salmonella
FoodWorld 