Category Archives: outbreak

USA- FDA – Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Posted on June 29, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FDA

What’s New

  • For the outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. L(+) tartrate+ (ref #1157), FDA initiated an on-site inspection and sample collection and analysis. The case count has increased from 33 to 34 cases.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1159), the case count has increased from 34 to 36 cases.
Date
Posted		 Ref Pathogen
or
Cause of
Illness		 Product(s)
Linked to
Illnesses
(if any)		 Total
Case
Count
Status
6/14/2023 1157 Salmonella
Paratyphi B
var. L(+)
tartrate+		 Not Yet
Identified		 34 Active
6/14/2023 1159 Cyclospora
cayetanensis		 Not Yet
Identified		 36 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
Organic
Strawberries		 See
Advisory		 Active

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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

Wales – E.coli cases being investigated at North Wales school

Posted on June 28, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Daily Post

A North Wales school will be closed to nursery and reception-aged children after two children were diagnosed with an E.coli infection. Children who have been identified as close contacts to the cases are being asked to provide a stool sample as Public Health Wales investigate the infection.

Public Health Wales has confirmed that it is investigating two confirmed cases of E.coli in two children who attend Ysgol Pen Barras in Ruthin. The school will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.

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Posted in E.coli, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak

USA – Minnesota Norovirus cases linked to Korean Oysters

Posted on June 26, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Poison Journal

Health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain raw oysters harvested in Republic of Korea (ROK) due to possible norovirus contamination. The alert from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) includes the following oysters:

Frozen raw oysters, in half shell, Individual Quick Freezing (IQF), and block form, harvested between 2/10/2022 and 2/24/2022 and between 4/06/2022 and 4/21/2022 from Designated Area No. II, and exported by Dai One Food Co., Ltd. (KR-8-SP), and Central Fisheries Co., Ltd. (KR-6-SP), in Republic of Korea (ROK). More information can be found in the FDA advisory.

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Posted in food bourne outbreak, food contamination, food handler, Food Hazard, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, Norovirus, Norovirus Oysters, outbreak

USA – Nationwide outbreak from Cyclospora tops 200; officials continue to seek source

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

The number of patients in a nationwide outbreak of infections from the foodborne Cyclospora parasite continue to increase, having reached 210 laboratory-confirmed cases.

Federal, state and local public health officials are investigating the outbreak, which is spread across 22 states and New York City, according to a June 22 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration have been tracking the outbreak since April 1. Additional infections could have started before that date.

Also, there are likely more than 210 people in the ongoing outbreak because of the lag time between when patients become ill and when confirmation testing can be completed and results filed with the CDC. Some sick people don’t seek medical attention, also impacting the outbreak count. The parasite is killed by using antibiotics. Specific tests are required to diagnose Cyclospora infections.

“No specific food items have been identified as the source of most of these illnesses. State and local public health officials are interviewing people with cyclosporiasis to find out what foods they ate before getting sick,” the CDC reported.

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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

USA – Rare Salmonella type behind multi-country outbreak

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Almost 70 people became ill this past year as part of a Salmonella outbreak involving 11 countries, including the United States.

France has the most patients in the Salmonella Ball outbreak but two people from the U.S., aged 44 and 62, were ill in August 2022. They both reported travel to France.

Salmonella Ball is very rare in Europe. Between 2007 and 2021, only 52 cases were reported from 14 countries, with an average of three per year.

Information was shared in a Joint Notification Summary (JNS). These are not made public but Food Safety News has seen a copy. It is prepared by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and affected countries.

An ECDC spokesman said this week that the agency had not received any updates on the number of people or countries affected since the JNS was produced.

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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, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Salmonella

USA – Broccoli was named as the source of the Cyclospora outbreak but the country of origin was not determined

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Public health officials have declared that imported broccoli was behind an outbreak from the Cyclospora parasite, but have closed their investigation without determining exactly where the produce came from.

The Food and Drug Administration announced that the outbreak has been determined to be over. The FDA reported that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with state and local officials, all concur that the outbreak has ended.

Twenty patients were confirmed as having been infected by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora, but their home states and ages have not been reported.

The outbreak was first reported by the FDA on May 24. The CDC has not posted any information about the outbreak.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak

Denmark – More sick from Salmonella and Campylobacter in 2022

Posted on June 23, 2023 by | Leave a comment

SSI

Campylobacter was the cause of 5,142 registered cases of illness in Denmark in 2022, and salmonella was the cause of 899 cases. This is an increase for the second year in a row and thus at the same level as before the covid-19 pandemic. This appears from the annual report on the occurrence of zoonoses in Denmark for 2022.

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Posted in Campylobacter, Decontamination Microbial, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, Foodborne Illness Death, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Salmonella

USA – FDA – Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Posted on June 22, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FDA

What’s New

  • For the outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. L(+) tartrate+ (ref #1157) in a not yet identified product, the case count increased from 31 to 33.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1159), the case count has increased from 28 cases to 34 cases.
  • For the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis (ref #1155), CDC, FDA, and state and local partners have determined that the outbreak has ended and have closed the investigation. Based on epidemiological investigations conducted by CDC and state and local partners, ill people reported eating broccoli before becoming sick. FDA and state and local partners conducted traceback investigations and determined that the product of interest was imported broccoli. FDA and state and local partners also collected and analyzed product samples and all samples were negative for Cyclospora. Due to the absence of supporting evidence collected from traceback and sample collection, investigators were unable to confirm a specific type or producer of imported broccoli as the source of the outbreak.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, food bourne outbreak, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Salmonella

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

USA – Multiple states report infections from Cyclospora; source evades investigators

Posted on June 21, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Cyclospora_LifeCycle201

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting a multi-state outbreak of infections from the Cyclospora parasite that has sickened almost 100 people.

As of the agency’s most recent outbreak update, 97 people from 14 states have been confirmed infected by the microscopic parasite. Sixteen people have required hospitalization because their symptoms were so severe. Public health officials have not reported any deaths.

The total number of sick people has not yet been reported to the CDC because of the time it takes for testing and confirmation testing. Some individual case counts reported so far this year by state authorities include Colorado with 62 patients who ate at a single restaurant. Outbreak investigations are also underway in 15 other states.

Prior to the current update, the CDC first reported on the outbreak on May 25. The first date of onset of the infections was April 1. No specific food items have been identified as the source of the parasite.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, 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, Parasite