Category Archives: Gastrointestinal Infection

France bans Arcachon oysters after food poisoning outbreak

Posted on December 29, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Connexion France

The sale of shellfish from the region has been banned following several cases of gastroenteritis linked to their consumption.

An increase in emergency room visits for gastroenteritis (a severe type of food poisoning) over December 25 and 26 has been linked to shellfish poisoning, prompting the prefect of the Gironde department to ban their sale.

No deaths have been reported and investigations into the exact cause are still ongoing.

People who have purchased shellfish from the area are advised not to eat them and to return them to the point of sale. Remaining stocks have been withdrawn from shelves.

 

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Posted in Food Virus, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Norovirus, Norovirus Oysters, Shellfish, Virus

Singapore – Suspension of Shiok Kitchen Catering Pte Ltd’s food business operations – Food Illness

Posted on December 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

SFA

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) are investigating
two incidents of gastroenteritis affecting a total of 95 persons after consuming food prepared
by Shiok Kitchen Catering Pte Ltd between 7 and 8 Dec 2023. Those affected either sought
outpatient treatment, self-medicated, or recovered without treatment. None were
hospitalised

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Posted in Food Illness, food recall, Foodborne Illness, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Illness, product recall, Recall

USA- Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady reports gastroenteritis on cruise ending today – Norovirus?

Posted on October 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Sea Trade

During Scarlet Lady’s current five-day cruise, just above 3% of passengers experienced symptoms of acute gastroenteritis, commonly referred to as stomach flu.

‘Our medical team isolated these travelers, and we immediately enacted enhanced sanitization procedures including additional cleaning of cabins and high-contact areas around the ship,’ a Virgin Voyages spokesperson said. ‘We are working closely with the CDC and their medical professionals. There is currently no impact to the upcoming voyage’s departure time or ports of call.’

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Posted in Food Virus, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Norovirus, Norovirus Cruise, outbreak, Virus

Research – Bacillus subtilis Bacteremia from Gastrointestinal Perforation after Natto Ingestion, Japan

Posted on October 5, 2023 by | Leave a comment

CDC

We report a case of Bacillus subtilis variant natto bacteremia from a gastrointestinal perforation in a patient who ingested natto. Genotypic methods showed the bacteria in a blood sample and the ingested natto were the same strains. Older or immunocompromised patients could be at risk for bacteremia from ingesting natto.

Bacillus subtilis is a gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacterium with low pathogenicity (1). B. subtilis isolated from clinical specimens is sometimes considered a contaminant (2). However, a few cases of bacteremia caused by B. subtilis have been reported in Japan (3–6). We report a case of B. subtilis variant natto bacteremia and peritonitis caused by ingestion of natto, a traditional fermented food in Japan that is prepared by adding B. subtilis var. natto culture to soybeans and fermenting them.

A 65-year-old man with metastatic colorectal cancer was admitted to Oita University Hospital (Oita, Japan) with fever and perianal pain. Approximately 2 months before admission, he began chemotherapy with bevacizumab and modified oxaliplatin plus leucovorin plus 5-fluorouracilm (FOLFOX6). Six days before admission, on day 4 after the third course of chemotherapy, he experienced perianal pain. He had a history of diabetes mellitus and a custom of eating natto.

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Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus Subtilis, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, Gastrointestinal Infection, Illness

USA – Clostridium perfringens or Bacillus cereus outbreak sickens 34 at Tacos El Guero

Posted on September 22, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal

Summary

Public Health is investigating an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness associated with a private event catered by a Tacos El Guero food truck on September 14, 2023.  Symptoms and timing of illness onsets were suggestive of a bacterial toxin, such as Clostridium perfringens or Bacillus cereus.
The exact food or drink that caused the illnesses has not been identified, though this is not uncommon for outbreaks associated with a bacterial toxin.

Illnesses

Public Health identified 34 sick people that developed one or more symptoms consistent with bacterial toxin, including diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and nausea. Illness onset dates ranged from September 14, 2023, to September 15, 2023.

Public Health actions

On September 15, 2023, a group reported the outbreak to Public Health after eating together on September 14, 2023. Public Health gathered information about symptoms and when people became ill.

Environmental Health investigators visited the mobile food trucks and restaurant on September 18, 2023. Investigators identified potential risk factors for bacterial toxin growth including inadequate refrigeration and improper cooling of food. We also observed inadequate equipment improper reheating, and lack of managerial oversight. Additionally, food at this event was served out of an unpermitted food truck. Corrective actions were discussed at the time of the visit. Based on unsafe food handling practices identified during the investigation, environmental health investigators closed the restaurant on September 18, 2023. Environmental Health investigators will revisit the facility to ensure adoption of safe food handling practices prior to allowing the restaurant to reopen.

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Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium, Clostridium perfringens, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Illness, outbreak

Research – Genomic diversity and epidemiological significance of non-typhoidal Salmonella found in retail food collected in Norfolk, UK

Posted on August 28, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Microbiology Research

ABSTRACT

Non-typhoidal  (NTS) is a major cause of bacterial gastroenteritis. Although many countries have implemented whole genome sequencing (WGS) of NTS, there is limited knowledge on NTS diversity on food and its contribution to human disease. In this study, the aim was to characterise the NTS genomes from retail foods in a particular region of the UK and assess the contribution to human NTS infections. Raw food samples were collected at retail in a repeated cross-sectional design in Norfolk, UK, including chicken (=311), leafy green (=311), pork (=311), prawn (=279) and salmon (=157) samples. Up to eight presumptive NTS isolates per positive sample underwent WGS and were compared to publicly available NTS genomes from UK human cases. NTS was isolated from chicken (9.6 %), prawn (2.9 %) and pork (1.3 %) samples and included 14 serovars, of which  Infantis and  Enteritidis were the most common. The . Enteritidis isolates were only isolated from imported chicken. No antimicrobial resistance determinants were found in prawn isolates, whilst 5.1 % of chicken and 0.64 % of pork samples contained multi-drug resistant NTS. The maximum number of pairwise core non-recombinant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) amongst isolates from the same sample was used to measure diversity and most samples had a median of two SNPs (range: 0–251). NTS isolates that were within five SNPs to clinical UK isolates belonged to specific serovars: . Enteritidis and . Infantis (chicken), and . I 4,[5],12:i- (pork and chicken). Most NTS isolates that were closely related to human-derived isolates were obtained from imported chicken, but further epidemiological data are required to assess definitively the probable source of the human cases. Continued WGS surveillance of  on retail food involving multiple isolates from each sample is necessary to capture the diversity of  and determine the relative importance of different sources of human disease.

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Posted in Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Salmonella, WGS, Whole Genomic Sequencing

Canada/USA – Gastrointestinal Illness Outbreak on Viking Neptune Cruise Ship Sickens Over 12% of Guests

Posted on June 21, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Cruise Law News

12.7% of the 838 passengers aboard the Viking Neptune cruise ship are experiencing abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 2% of the crew are also experiencing these symptoms of gastrointestinal illness (GI). Cruise lines are required to report GI cases to the CDC whenever 3% or more of the passengers experience symptoms.

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Posted in cruise ship, 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, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak

Singapore – Suspension of Nosh Cuisine Pte Ltd’s food business operations – Gastroenteritis Investigation

Posted on May 31, 2023 by | Leave a comment

SFA

The Ministry of Health (MOH), the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) are investigating three incidents of gastroenteritis reported at MindChamps preschools (MindChamps Preschool @ Bishan, MindChampsPreschool@ Changi Airport and MindChampsPreschool@ Tanglin).

As of 12pm, 30 May 2023, a total of 89 persons (79 children and 10 staff) reported gastroenteritis symptoms after consuming food prepared by Nosh Cuisine Pte Ltd between 17 May and 29 May 2023. Six were hospitalised and are in stable condition. The rest had either sought outpatient treatment, self-medicated, or recovered without treatment.

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Posted in 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, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak

UK -UKHSA issue warning as infections rise in East of England

Posted on May 30, 2023 by | Leave a comment

EDP 24

Families visiting farms and petting zoos this summer are being urged to protect themselves following a rise in infections.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a warning about gastrointestinal infections such as salmonella, cryptosporidium and e.coli.

They can all be passed from farm animals to humans, causing illness.

There have already been 92 cases of cryptosporidium in the east of England so far this year, 14 more than in all of 2022.

So the UKHSA is urging anyone visiting a farm to remember the importance of thoroughly and frequently washing hands to avoid getting the bugs, which can make you seriously ill.

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Posted in Cryptosporidium, E.coli, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, Salmonella, UKHSA

Research – Cruise Ship Illness Cases Surpass 2019 Levels – What It Means

Posted on May 29, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Cruise Hive

Recorded outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses have been reported aboard 12 cruises so far in 2023, already surpassing the total number of outbreaks in 2019, the last year of full data available. Does this mean that cruises have become unhealthier or at higher risk for such outbreaks?

12 Outbreaks in Less Than 5 Months

Only five months into 2023, a dozen outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses aboard cruise ships have been reported to the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, gastroenteritis, Gastrointestinal Infection, GI, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Norovirus