Category Archives: outbreak

USA – USDA investigating a new Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak. Little information has been released.

Posted on April 21, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Food Poisoning News

The US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced this week they are investigating a Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak. Not much information has been released, but according to the FSIS situation report, the early stages of the investigation have been launched.

The FSIS has not released details about how many people are sick or where they live. The most recent update was posted on April 20, 2022 and states that chicken is a possible source of the outbreak and Salmonella Enteritidis is the pathogen involved.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not released any information on this particular outbreak, but they frequently post updates on illnesses from all kinds of foodborne pathogens.

Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps that develop within 12 hours to 3 days after exposure to the organism. The illness typically lasts four to seven days and most people recover without treatment. However, in some cases, hospitalization is necessary and in rare cases death can occur. Children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are at an increased risk for severe illness.

If you think you have a Salmonella infection, it’s important to see a doctor right away for treatment.

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USA – FDA investigates outbreak linked to cereal; continues with other outbreak work

Posted on April 21, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

The FDA is investigating more than 200 “adverse events” related to an unnamed dry cereal. In recent days reports from across the country regarding illnesses linked to Lucky Charms cereal have been filed with government agencies and the iwaspoisoned.com website.

The reports include vomiting, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration has separately reported in recent days that is is investigating complaints about Lucky Charms but has not released any other details about the investigation. General Mills, the maker of Lucky Charms, has reported that it is not aware of any confirmed illnesses associated with the cereal.

As of April 20, the FDA has initiated an on-site inspection in relation to the complaints about the cereal. 

The agency has not reported any information about the people who made the complaints of adverse events related to the cereal and has not reported where they live.

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Posted in FDA, food bourne outbreak, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, outbreak

USA – New Salmonella outbreak possibly linked to chicken under investigation by USDA

Posted on April 20, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

The USDA is investigating a new Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak but little information has been released.

Chicken has been identified as the possible source for the pathogen, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service.

The agency has not released any information regarding the number of infected people or where they live. Similarly, no information  has been released about companies involved in the investigation or brands of chicken involved.

As of April 19 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had not released any information regarding the outbreak.

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Posted in Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, outbreak, USDA

Research – Investigation of an international outbreak of multidrug-resistant monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium associated with chocolate products, EU/EEA and United Kingdom, February to April 2022

Posted on April 19, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Eurosurveillance

In February 2022, a small five-single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) single linkage cluster of eight cases of infection with monophasic  subsp.  serotype Typhimurium (1,4,5,12:i:-) eBG 1, sequence type (ST) 34 was identified in the United Kingdom (UK). The cluster was unusual, with all but one reported case younger than 10 years, and the strain demonstrated genotypic markers of an unusual antimicrobial resistance pattern not commonly seen in livestock, food or human disease cases in the UK. The cluster was not closely related to any other UK strains of monophasic  Typhimurium.

Exploratory interviews using an open-ended, anthropological approach (not binary yes/no questions) were undertaken with the parents/guardians of five cases in England for hypothesis generation. Subsequently, a targeted questionnaire to refine hypotheses identified through the exploratory interviews was used, confirming a strong signal for a specific brand of chocolate products.

Following the UK’s notification on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) EpiPulse Food and Waterborne Diseases (FWD) platform on 17 February 2022, and an Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) alert on 25 March, Germany, Sweden, France, the Netherlands and subsequently Luxembourg, Norway, Ireland, Belgium and Spain reported confirmed or probable cases in their respective countries.

Case definitionThe agreed European Union (EU) case definition for confirmed cases was laboratory-confirmed monophasic  Typhimurium with symptom onset on or after 1 October 2021 and belonging to the same five SNP single linkage cluster by SNP typing or cases who clustered within five allelic differences of another confirmed outbreak strain by core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) analysis or shared the same HC5_296366 by the EnteroBase HierCC scheme [1]. This definition therefore depended on the whole genome sequencing (WGS) methodology used at the national level in each country (i.e SNP typing or cgMLST analysis). Probable cases were those with laboratory confirmation of monophasic  Typhimurium with symptom onset on or after 1 October 2021 and phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) results consistent with the outbreak strain or a multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) profile 3–11–14-NA-0211.

Detected cases in the EU/EEA and United KingdomBy 10 April 2022, a total of 150 confirmed and probable cases were identified across nine EU/European Economic Area (EEA) countries and the UK, with case sampling dates ranging from 21 December 2021 (the first UK case) to 28 March 2022 (Figure 1). Descriptive epidemiological investigations demonstrated cases ranged in age from 8 months to 56 years, but were predominately under the age of 10 years (n = 134; 89%) and disproportionately female (n = 99; 66%) (Figure 2). The hospitalisation rate was 42% of cases for whom information was available (116 cases with 49 hospitalised) – higher than that usually reported in salmonellosis outbreaks [2] and for individual cases of infection with . Typhimurium [3]. While this is probably also influenced by the demographic characteristics of those affected, this is a possible indicator of increased clinical severity of infection in this outbreak.

Figure 1.Distribution of confirmed and probable salmonellosis outbreak cases by week and country and by date of onseta,b, EU/EEA and UK, up to 10 April 2022 (n = 150)
Figure 1EEA: European Economic Area; EU: European Union; UK: United Kingdom.

a Case onset date (n=108) is not consistently available for all reported cases, therefore date of sampling has been used where case onset date is unavailable (n=39) or date of receipt at reference laboratory where both onset and sampling dates are unknown (n=3).

b Probable cases were reported by Belgium (n=19) and Germany (n=2) (data as of 13 April).

Figure 2.Distribution of confirmed and probable salmonellosis outbreak cases, by age group and sex, EU/EEA and UK, up to 10 April 2022 (n = 150)

Figure 2

EEA: European Economic Area; EU: European Union; UK: United Kingdom.

Multi-country collaboration through teleconferences and sharing of information between public health agencies and reference laboratories indicated that cases in affected countries commonly reported consumption of a specific brand of chocolate products. Overall, of 101 case interviews carried out across the 10 affected countries, 88 cases (87%) confirmed consumption of these products. The most commonly consumed product was Product A, marketed primarily for children in the age group 3–10 years, but multiple other product types were also reported.

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France – French prosecutors raid Buitoni Fraich’UP pizza factory and Nestlé following E. coli Outbreak

Posted on April 19, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal

The inspections “revealed a deterioration of food hygiene controls”, the presence of “rodents” and “insufficient measures to prevent pests from contaminating a food production site.”

E. coli O26 and E. coli O103 appear to be serotypes linked to this outbreak.

According to press reports, French prosecutors on Wednesday last week searched a Buitoni frozen pizza factory in northern France, the suspected source of an E. coli outbreak that has left dozens of children sick, as well as the headquarters of its owner Nestle France, authorities told AFP .

An investigation into involuntary manslaughter and deceitful practices was opened on 1 April after authorities learned of more than 70 infections, which may have caused the deaths of a one-year-old and an 18-year-old. Over two dozen have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

The search at the Caudry factory operated by Buitoni, which is owned by the Swiss food conglomerate Nestle, was confirmed by a police source and the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is leading the investigation.

Nestle France, whose headquarters outside Paris were also raided, announced a recall of the affected Fraich’UP pizzas on March 18, and authorities ordered a halt of their production at Caudry after carrying out two hygiene inspections.

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Kinder International Recall -Salmonella

Posted on April 19, 2022 by | Leave a comment

EFOOD ALERT

International recall of Ferrero’s Kinder chocolate products

Ferrero has expanded its international recall of Kinder Surprise chocolate novelty products, linked to a multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium illnesses. Click on the country link to navigate to the most recent recall notice for that jurisdiction.

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France – International outbreak of salmonellosis in young children linked to the consumption of Kinder brand products. Update on April 12, 2022.

Posted on April 19, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Sante Publique

Following the investigations carried out by the Belgian health authorities, together with their English, European and in particular French counterparts, the company Ferrero proceeded on April 5, 2022 to the recall of several Kinder range products manufactured in a factory in Belgium due to suspected contamination by Salmonella Typhimurium . On April 8, 2022, the recall finally affected all Kinder products from this factory, regardless of their expiry date. 

Case of salmonellosis in France: update on April 12, 2022

In total, as of 04/12/2022: 33 cases have been identified by the National Reference Center (CNR) for salmonella at the Institut Pasteur in France. 

The cases are spread over 11 regions: Ile-de-France (6 cases), Grand-Est (5 cases), Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (4 cases), Hauts-de-France (4 cases), Nouvelle -Aquitaine (3 cases), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (3 cases), Normandy (2 cases), Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (2 cases), Brittany (2 cases), Corsica (1 case), and Occitanie (1 case ), with a median age of 4 years, and 17 boys and 16 girls.

Twenty-two cases were able to be questioned by Public Health France. All the cases report, before the onset of their symptoms, the consumption of chocolates of the brand mentioned here. Nine people were hospitalized for their salmonellosis, all since discharged. No deaths were reported.

Public Health France is continuing its investigations with families who have not yet been able to be reached. 

The withdrawal and recall on 05/04 of the concerned products of the Kinder brand, extended on 08/04 to all production by the Belgian factory with closure of the latter by the Belgian authorities, should limit the occurrence in France new cases of salmonellosis in the coming days/weeks. 

To find out the list of products concerned by the withdrawal-recall: https://rappel.conso.gouv.fr/

People who have consumed the products mentioned above and who present symptoms (gastrointestinal disorders, fever within 72 hours of consumption), are invited to consult their doctor without delay, notifying him of this consumption. 

In order to limit person-to-person transmission (especially in households with young children), it is recommended to wash your hands well with soap and water after using the toilet, after changing your child, and before to cook.

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France – Investigation of grouped cases of haemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections linked to the consumption of Buitoni® brand Fraîch’Up pizzas. 

Posted on April 19, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Sante Publique

Public Health France and the National Reference Center (CNR) E. coli and its associated laboratory (Institut Pasteur, Paris, and Microbiology Laboratory of the Robert Debré Hospital, Paris), in conjunction with the Directorate General for Food, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention, and in coordination with the Directorate General for Health, have been investigating since 02/10/2022 an increase in the number of cases of haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) pediatric infections and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections.

The epidemiological, microbiological and traceability investigations carried out since that date have confirmed a link between the occurrence of these grouped cases and the consumption of frozen pizzas from the Buitoni brand Fraîch’Up range contaminated with STEC bacteria. On 03/18/2022, the company proceeded with the withdrawal-recall of all the pizzas in the Fraîch’Up range, marketed since June 2021 and the authorities asked the people who hold these pizzas not to consume them and to destroy them.

The total number of HUS cases linked to the consumption of these pizzas seems to have stabilized since the withdrawal-recall.

Case of SHU in France: update on 04/13/22

As of 04/13/2022, 53 confirmed cases have been identified, of which 51 are linked to STEC O26 strains, and 2 to STEC O103 strains. For 26 other cases of HUS and STEC infections notified to Public Health France, investigations are ongoing.

These 53 cases occurred in 52 children and 1 adult, who presented symptoms between 18/01/2022 (week 3) and 16/03/2022 (week 11) (Figure 1). The epidemic peak is in week 7 (14/02 to 20/02) and week 9 (28/02 to 06/03), with 10 cases each of these weeks. These 53 cases occurred in 12 regions of metropolitan France: Hauts-de-France (11 cases), Ile-de-France (9 cases), New Aquitaine (8 cases), Pays de la Loire (7 cases), Brittany ( 6 cases), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (2 cases) [-1 case since the situation update of 06/04/2022 after additional result], Grand Est (2 cases), Occitanie (2 cases), Provence-Alpes- Côte d’Azur (2 cases) and Center Val-de-Loire (2 cases), Bourgogne Franche-Comté (1 case) [-1 case since the situation update of 04/06/2022 after additional result], Normandy ( 1 case) (Figure 2).

The 52 sick children are aged from 1 to 17 years with a median age of 7 years; 23 (44%) are female; 46 (88%) presented with HUS, 6 (12%) with STEC gastroenteritis. Two children died. The adult did not present with HUS [an adult previously reported in the situation update of 06/04/2022 was finally invalidated after additional results].

Figure 1: Epidemic curve: number of confirmed cases of HUS and STEC infections (N=51), by week of onset of symptoms – metropolitan France, weeks 3 to 11, 2022
Figure 1: Epidemic curve: number of confirmed cases of HUS and STEC infections (N=51), by week of onset of symptoms - metropolitan France, weeks 3 to 11, 2022
Figure 2: Geographical distribution of confirmed cases of HUS and STEC infections (N=53) linked to the consumption of Buitoni® brand Fraîch’Up pizzas, by region of residence in metropolitan France, weeks 3 to 11, 2022
Figure 2: Geographical distribution of confirmed cases of HUS and STEC infections (N=53) linked to the consumption of Buitoni® brand Fraîch'Up pizzas, by region of residence in metropolitan France, weeks 3 to 11, 2022

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EU – 8 April update: ECDC/EFSA investigation into multi-country Salmonella outbreak continues

Posted on April 19, 2022 by | Leave a comment

ECDC

The outbreak has been linked to a factory in Arlon. Belgian authorities suspended all activities, all products that were manufactured there will be recalled, and retailers are also asked to remove the products from their shelves.

An outbreak caused by monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium is rapidly evolving in eight EU/EEA countries and the United Kingdom (UK). As of 8 April 2022, 142 cases have been reported, mainly among children under 10 years old. The first case was identified in the UK on 7 January 2022. Since 17 February 2022, cases have also been identified elsewhere in Europe.

Geographical distribution of confirmed and probable cases of monophasic S. Typhimurium in the EU/EEA and the UK, as of 8 April 2022
 

The outbreak is characterised by an unusually high proportion of children being hospitalised, some with severe clinical symptoms such as bloody diarrhoea. Based on interviews with patients and initial analytical epidemiological studies, specific chocolate products have been identified as the likely route of infection. Affected cases have been identified through advanced molecular typing techniques. As this method of testing is not routinely performed in all countries, some cases may be undetected.

Product recalls have been launched in several countries to date, including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and the UK, to prevent the consumption of products potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Further investigations are being conducted by public health and food safety authorities in countries where cases are reported, to identify the cause and the extent of the contamination, and to ensure contaminated products are not put on the market.

ECDC and EFSA are assessing the available data from these countries and preparing a rapid outbreak assessment to be published next week. Questions regarding ongoing product recalls should be addressed to national food safety authorities.

Number of confirmed and probable cases* with monophasic S. Typhimurium infection by country, EU/EEA and the UK, as of 8 April 2022

Country Confirmed cases Probable cases Total cases
Belgium 0 26 26
France 25 0 25
Germany 6 2 8
Ireland 10 0 10
Luxembourg 1 0 1
Netherlands 2 0 2
Norway 1 0 1
Sweden 4 0 4
Total EU/EEA 42 29 77
United Kingdom 65 0 65
Total 114 28 142

*According to the European outbreak case definition

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Research – Levels and genotypes of Salmonella and levels of Escherichia coli in frozen ready-to-cook chicken and turkey products in England tested in 2020 in relation to an outbreak of S. Enteritidis

Posted on April 7, 2022 by | Leave a comment

PubMed

Frozen reformulated (FR) breaded chicken products have previously been implicated in causing human salmonellosis. A multi-country Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis outbreak involving several strains with >400 reported human cases in the UK occurred in 2020. Initially S. Infantis was detected in one sample from a case home but S. Enteritidis was then also isolated using a S. Enteritidis specific PCR in combination with isolation via a Craigie-tube. This prompted a survey to examine the presence and levels of Salmonella and E. coli in ready-to-cook FR poultry products in England in 2020. From a total of 483 samples, including two from cases’ homes, Salmonella was detected in 42 chicken samples, these originated from six out of 53 production plants recorded. Salmonella detection was associated with elevated levels of generic E. coli (OR = 6.63). S. Enteritidis was detected in 17 samples, S. Infantis in 25, S. Newport in four and S. Java, S. Livingstone and S. Senftenberg in one each. The highest levels of Salmonella were 54 MPN/g for S. Infantis and 28 MPN/g for S. Enteritidis; 60% of the Salmonella-positive samples had <1.0 MPN/g. S. Enteritidis was detected together with S. Infantis in five samples and with S. Livingstone in one. Where S. Enteritidis was detected with other Salmonella, the former was present at between 2 and 100-fold lower concentrations. The Salmonella contamination was homogeneously distributed amongst chicken pieces from a single pack and present in both the outer coating and inner content. The S. Enteritidis were all outbreak strains and detected in six products that were linked to four production plants which implicated a Polish origin of contamination. Despite S. Infantis being most prevalent in these products, S. Infantis from only two contemporaneous human cases in the UK fell into the same cluster as isolates detected in one product. Except for one human case falling into the same cluster as one of the S. Newport strains from the chicken, no further isolates from human cases fell into clusters with any of the other serovars detected in the chicken samples. This study found that higher E. coli levels indicated a higher probability of Salmonella contamination in FR chicken products. The results also highlight the importance of recognising co-contamination of foods with multiple Salmonella types and has provided essential information for detecting and understanding outbreaks where multiple strains are involved.

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