Category Archives: HPA

HPA – UK – 2012 Norovirus Report

Posted on December 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

NHS Norovirus

Many newspapers are reporting on the Health Protection Agency’s latest figures on the ongoing outbreak of Norovirus – the so-called winter vomiting disease. The data suggest that cases of the virus, which are usually highest after Christmas, are high for this time of year.

According to data available up to December 2 2012, there have been 2,313 confirmed laboratory reports (which is 64% higher than the same period in the last season). But the HPA estimates that for every confirmed report there are another 288 unreported cases.

This means that as many as 666,144 people could have been affected in this outbreak of norovirus. This number is expected to continue to rise.

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Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, HPA, Norovirus, Research

UK – HPA – Legionnaires Information and Research

Posted on November 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPALeigionella

 

Around half (116) of the 235 cases of Legionnaires’ disease reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in England and Wales in 2011 were in returning holiday makers. The annual number of Legionnaires’ cases has fallen from 355 cases in 2010, when around a third (114) were in returning travellers.

Legionnaires’ disease can be contracted by breathing in droplets of water or aerosols containing the legionella bacteria from water sources which may have had temperature problems, or where water has remained stagnant for a period of time. Spa pools, shower heads or taps can sometimes be the source of an outbreak.

The illness usually affects vulnerable people, such as the elderly and almost 70 per cent of the cases reported in 2011 were in people with an underlying health condition, including almost 30 per cent in people with heart disease. Smokers and people with diabetes or a weakened immune system were also at higher risk.

 

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Legionella, Microbiology, Pathogen, Water

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HPA Salmonella in Mycoprotein Update

Posted on October 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA –

 The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has seen seven cases of Salmonella Enteritidis PT1 following consumption of a pasteurised liquid egg product which was sold through Myprotein® and Nutri Centre websites and Nutri Centre stores. Testing of a sample of the product also showed a positive result for the same type of salmonella. No other products are known to be affected.

 

The product, a Myprotein own brand ‘Free Range Liquid Egg Whites’, was recalled on October 10 by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the company are no longer selling it. The FSA are working to identify the source of the eggs used in the product.

Salmonella bacteria live in the gut of many animals and can affect meat, eggs, poultry, and milk. Infection with this type of salmonella causes a similar illness to other forms of salmonella infection and symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and fever.

There has been no national increase in this type of salmonella. In the seven weeks from the end of August to 9 October (weeks 34-40) there were a total of 42 non-travel cases of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 1 reported to the HPA (including the seven cases above). This is compared to 48 and 47 cases in the same weeks in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

The 42 cases seen this year have been reported from most regions and range in age from infants to 78 years of age. There are more females than males (24 vs. 18) with half of the females being under ten years of age. The male cases are spread across most age groups.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Recall, Salmonella

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HPA – eBugs Website- New site for Learning About Microbiology

Posted on October 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

eBugs : For all Microbiology not just Food

 

 

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Posted in Bacteria, HPA, Microbiology, Research

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BBC – School in Leeds Hit by Shigella

Posted on October 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

BBC

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said pupils and staff at Cross Lane Primary School in Elland had been affected by the Shigella bacteria, which can cause diarrhoea and vomiting.

The HPA said that nine cases had been confirmed and more than 50 people had displayed symptoms over the last three weeks.

The school will reopen on 15 October.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, Pathogen, Shigella

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HPA – Legionella Outbreak – Costa Brava

Posted on September 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is aware of seven confirmed and one possible case of Legionnaires’ disease in people who have stayed or visited Blanes in Costa Brava. Cases are from Spain, the Netherlands and Latvia. The age range of the patients, who are all recovering, is from 48 to 82 years. There are no UK cases associated with this outbreak.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, HPA, Legionella, outbreak, Pathogen

UK – E.coli O157 Cases Confirmed -Not Food Based

Posted on September 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment

BBC News

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is investigating a string of E. coli cases among visitors to a West Midlands park.

Seven people have been infected by the 0157 strain of E. coli at Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield over July and August.

Five of the cases involved children under eight years old, the HPA said. All patients have since recovered.

Posters and leaflets have been issued, but the HPA said parents may want to use other parks for the time being.

Dr Roger Gajraj, a consultant with the HPA’s West Midlands East Health Protection Unit (HPU) said: “E. coli O157 can be very serious in young children and can in some instances cause kidney failure.”

The HPA said E. coli O157 was often associated with contact with animals and rural areas that may have been contaminated by animal faeces.

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Posted in Bacteria, E.coli, E.coli O157, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, HPA, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

HPA – Update Legionella in Stoke on Trent

Posted on August 14, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA

Update 13 August: Legionnaires’ disease in Stoke-on-Trent

13 August 2012

A further case of Legionnaires’ disease has been confirmed in the Stoke-on-Trent outbreak bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 21. The case, a man in his seventies, is recovering in hospital.

This new case is not unexpected. It can take up to two weeks following exposure for people to develop symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease and a further few days before they might see their GP.

A spokesperson for University Hospital of North Staffordshire said: “Three patients remain in hospital and all are in a stable or improving condition.”

Media enquiries: Contact the Health Protection Agency West Midlands press office on 0121 232 9223

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, HPA, Legionella, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen

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HPA – Warning Clostridium boutlinum – Italian Olives

Posted on July 26, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA 

Tests carried out by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) identified the toxin that causes botulism in a jar of Italian olives after an Oxfordshire resident was admitted to hospital with botulism poisoning. No further cases have been identified to date.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is now asking people who have bought jars of the implicated olives not to eat them and to contact their local authority environmental health food safety team to arrange collection of the product.

The implicated olives are “Olive Bella Di Cerignola” produced by ‘I Divini’. These are large green olives from the Puglia region of Italy and are packaged in brine in glass jars with a lot number of 161/11 and best before date of 10/06/2014. This type of olive is distributed under a number of different brand names but only the I DIVINI di Chicco Francesco brand is associated with this incident.

The HPA is working with the local authority environmental health department and the Food Standards Agency on the investigation. Botulism is rare in the UK – there have only been 33 recorded cases of food-borne botulism in England and Wales since 1989, with 27 of these linked to a single outbreak.

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Posted in Bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Hygiene, Microbiology, Pathogen

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HPA – UK – Campylobacter Still Number 1 in 2011

Posted on May 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

HPA

Eighty three general outbreaks of foodborne infectious disease in England and Wales were reported in 2011 to the HPA’s electronic Foodborne and Non-foodborne Gastrointestinal Outbreak Surveillance System (eFOSS)[§]. In the previous year there were 63 outbreaks of foodborne diseases (figure 1).

The rise in the number of general outbreaks in 2011 could be due to the continued increase in outbreaks caused by Campylobacter spp (20/83 in 2011; 18/63 in 2010) and a rise in the outbreaks caused by Salmonella spp compared to the previous year (18 in 2011; 8 in 2010).

Outbreaks of campylobacter have increased since 2009 and concurrently campylobacter is now the most frequently implicated causative agent in reported outbreaks representing 24% of all outbreaks [1,2 ]. In 2011, as in preceding years, most campylobacter outbreaks were associated with consumption of undercooked poultry liver pâté or parfait f rom food service establishments [3,4]. Salmonella spp. accounted for 22% of the outbreaks, most of which were caused by an increase in S. Enteritidis non PT 4 (44%, 8/18) or S. Typhimurium (33%, 6/18). The next most frequently identified agents included: norovirus (10%, 8/83), VTEC O157 (10%, 8/83) and Clostridium perfringens (8%, 7/83)

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Posted in Bacteria, Campylobacter, E.coli O157, EHEC, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Illness, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Standards Agency, Foodborne Illness, HPA, Microbiology, Norovirus, outbreak, Pathogen, Research, Salmonella

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