E. coli infections hit a record high in Norway in 2023, while other pathogens are returning to levels seen before the Coronavirus pandemic.
Data published by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) shows that the number of Campylobacter, Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria infections rose compared to the previous year, while Yersinia cases fell.
Hepatitis E infection is typically caused by contaminated water or food. In July and August 2022, an outbreak of hepatitis E was reported in a nursing home in Zhejiang Province, China. Local authorities and workers took immediate actions to confirm the outbreak, investigated the sources of infection and routes of transmission, took measures to terminate the outbreak, and summarized the lessons learned. An epidemiological investigation was conducted on all individuals in the nursing home, including demographic information, clinical symptoms, history of dietary, water intake and contact. Stool and blood samples were collected from these populations for laboratory examinations. The hygiene environment of the nursing home was also investigated. A case-control study was conducted to identify the risk factors for this outbreak. Of the 722 subjects in the nursing home, 77 were diagnosed with hepatitis E, for an attack rate of 10.66 %. Among them, 18 (23.38 %, 18/77) individuals had symptoms such as jaundice, fever, and loss of appetite and were defined as the population with hepatitis E. The average age of people infected with hepatitis E virus (HEV) was 59.96 years and the attack rate of hepatitis E among women (12.02 %, 59/491) was greater than that among men (7.79 %, 18/231). The rate was the highest among caregivers (22.22 %, 32/144) and lowest among logistics personnel (6.25 %, 2/32); however, these differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Laboratory sequencing results indicated that the genotype of this hepatitis E outbreak was 4d. A case-control study showed that consuming pig liver (odds ratio (OR) = 7.50; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 3.84–16.14, P < 0.001) and consuming raw fruits and vegetables (OR = 5.92; 95 % CI: 1.74–37.13, P = 0.017) were risk factors for this outbreak of Hepatitis E. Moreover, a monitoring video showed that the canteen personnel did not separate raw and cooked foods, and pig livers were cooked for only 2 min and 10 s. Approximately 1 month after the outbreak, an emergency vaccination for HEV was administered. No new cases were reported after two long incubation periods (approximately 4 months). The outbreak of HEV genotype 4d was likely caused by consuming undercooked pig liver, resulting in an attack rate of 10.66 %. This was related to the rapid stir-frying cooking method and the hygiene habit of not separating raw and cooked foods.
The individual consumer generally cannot control the presence of mycotoxins in the food he or she purchases, except to observe whether mold is present. Mycotoxin-producing fungi generally grow during the production and storage of plant products. The most common mycotoxins that can be present in foods are: aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, patulin and ochratoxin A.
The four main aflatoxins are AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2. These toxins are produced primarily by certain strains of Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus . Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is produced by mammals after consumption of feed (or food) contaminated by AFB1. Aflatoxins are tasteless, colorless, and odorless, fluoresce under ultraviolet light, and can withstand high temperatures.
Leafy green vegetables are a major source of foodborne illnesses. Nevertheless, few studies have attempted to estimate attribution and burden of illness estimates for leafy greens. This study combines results from three outbreak-based attribution models with illness incidence and economic cost models to develop comprehensive pathogen-specific burden estimates for leafy greens and their subcategories in the United States. We find that up to 9.18% (90% CI: 5.81%-15.18%) of foodborne illnesses linked to identified pathogens are attributed to leafy greens. Including ‘Unknown’ illnesses not linked to specific pathogens, leafy greens account for as many as 2,307,558 (90% CI: 1,077,815–4,075,642) illnesses annually in the United States. The economic cost of these illnesses is estimated to be up to $5.278 billion (90% CI: $3.230-$8.221 billion) annually. Excluding the pathogens with small outbreak sizes, Norovirus, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (both non-O157 and O157:H7), Campylobacter spp., and nontyphoidal Salmonella, are associated with the highest number of illnesses and greatest costs from leafy greens. While lettuce (romaine, iceberg, “other lettuce”) takes 60.8% of leafy green outbreaks, it accounts for up to 75.7% of leafy green foodborne illnesses and 70% of costs. Finally, we highlighted that 19.8% of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 illnesses are associated with romaine among all food commodities, resulting in 12,496 estimated illnesses and $324.64 million annually in the United States.
Rather than enduring the tedious procedure associated with the microbiological procedure in which bacteria colonies are left to grow and are then counted, the ColiMinder technology, which is sold and marketed in the UK by QCL (QuadraChem Laboratories Ltd), operates by taking a direct measurement of the sampled target organisms’ specific metabolic activity. ColiMinder provides fully automated, real-time microbiological measurements thereby offering users a continuous overview of water quality, therefore enabling quick and decisive reactions to contamination events. The live measurement data is highlighted on a dedicated website and users receive automatic notifications via SMS and email.
How can the origin of foodborne disease outbreaks be identified and traced? How is information on the history of food and feed collected, processed and used for risk assessment? And which role does artificial intelligence play for food safety in global commodity chains? These are some of the questions that will be addressed during the international conference “Global commodity chains from a risk assessment perspective” from 27 to 29 May 2024. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), which has been working on the topic of global commodity chains for a long time, is the organiser of this event and is offering a platform for (inter)national experts to learn from each other. “Analysing global commodity chains and their dynamics is of central importance for consumer health protection. Thanks to regular exchanges with national and international stakeholders, the BfR is gathering more and more knowledge about global commodity chains and their risks for feed and food safety”, says BfR president Professor Dr Dr Dr h.c. Andreas Hensel. The event will focus on innovative techniques and digital solutions for integrating data and knowledge about hazards, exposures and technologies in global commodity chains.
Programme and registration: https://www.bfr-akademie.de/english/gwk2024.html
Over the three days of the conference, international experts from the fields of feed and food chains, digitalisation and consumer health protection will come together to exchange views on current developments. The aim is to develop visions for improved risk assessment along the feed and food chain. The importance of the topic of commodity chains will be considered from different perspectives.
Nine different sessions will focus on topics such as traceability, fraud, food safety, early warning, technologies, analytical methods and classification systems along the global supply chain. Participants from all over the world will give presentations and share their knowledge.
The conference will be opened by guest perspectives of representatives of authorities from France (Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail, ANSES) and South Korea (National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, NIFDS). The exchange between the BfR and the two partner institutions takes place every two years on specific key topics of risk assessment, this year as part of the commodity chain conference.
Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) is one of the common food-borne pathogens in humans and has a high tolerance to the environment. Considering the high lethal temperature of B. cereus spores, it is difficult to be effectively killed by common pasteurization methods, resulting in a certain amount of residual spores in milk. In this paper, a quantitative risk assessment model of B. cereus was constructed to assess the risk of introducing B. cereus in the production of reconstituted milk based on the collected detection data of B. cereus contamination in Chinese milk powder. As a result, it is found that B. cereus is relatively seriously polluted on the pipeline from mixing tank to UHT sterilization (with a mean concentration of 5.17 log cfu) in the production process of reconstituted milk. This study provides a theoretical basis for formulating B. cereus contamination control measures in the production of reconstituted milk related products.
Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences researchers have developed a rapid detection method for seafood pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of foodborne illness from seafood.
The new platform, leveraging recombinant polymerase amplification (RPA) and the CRISPR/Cas12a system combined with an immunochromatographic test strip (ICS), offers a low-cost, simple and visually intuitive solution for the rapid detection of this pathogen in seafood.
Recent fresh produce outbreaks potentially associated with bioaerosol contamination from animal operations in adjacent land highlighted the need for further study to better understand the associated risk. The purpose of this research was to evaluate three sampling methods for quantifying target bacterial bioaerosols from animal operations. A dairy cattle and poultry farm located in Georgia, U.S. were visited six times each. Air was collected for 10 min using: 2-stage Andersen impactor with and without mineral oil overlay and impingement samplers. Sampling devices were run concurrently at 0.1, 1, and 2 m heights (n = 36). Andersen samplers were loaded with CHROMagar™ Salmonella, CHROMagar™ STEC, or Brilliance™ coliforms/E. coli. The impingement sampler contained buffered peptone water (20 mL) which was vacuum filtered through a 0.45 µm filter and placed onto the respective media. Plates were incubated at 37 ℃ for 48 h. PCR confirmation followed targeting ttr for Salmonella and stx1, stx2, and eae genes for STEC. No significant differences were found among methods to quantify coliforms and E. coli. Salmonella and STEC bioaerosols were not detected by any of the methods (Limit of detection: 0.55 log CFU/m3). E. coli bioaerosols were significantly greater in the poultry (2.76–5.00 log CFU/m3) than in the cattle farm (0.55–2.82 log CFU/m3) (p < 0.05), and similarly distributed at both stages in the Andersen sampler (stage 1:>7 μm; stage 2: 0.65–7 μm particle size). Sampling day did not have a significant effect on the recovery of coliforms/E. coli bioaerosols in the poultry farm when samples were taken at the broiler house exhaust fan (p > 0.05). A greater and constant emission of coliforms and E. coli bioaerosols from the poultry farm warrants further investigation. These data will help inform bioaerosol sampling techniques which can be used for the quantification of bacterial foodborne pathogens and indicator organisms for future research.
Single serving (i.e. 200 ml) portions of tomato soup, vegetable soup, and broth inoculated with Escherichia coli or Salmonella typhimurium at about 107 organisms/ml were exposed to 915 MHz microwaves. After various timed exposures the temperature of the top, middle, and bottom regions as indicated by changes in previously positioned assemblies of temperature sensitive paper strips were noted and aliquots were removed from the same regions for standard plate count determination of survivors. For any given exposure time, the temperature of the middle region was warmest; that of the bottom, intermediate; and the temperature of the top, coolest. Despite the relative temperatures of the regions, however, the consistent finding was that, for any exposure time, the closer the sampled organisms were to the top, the lower their level of survival. In terms of temperature, it was noted that organisms in the top had declined to a given level of survival at a temperature lower than the temperature corresponding to the same survival level in the middle or bottom soup regions. These data suggest that the heat generated during the microwave exposure alone is inadequate to fully account for the nature of the lethal effects of microwaves for microorganisms.
Posted in E.coli, Food Microbiology Research, Research, Salmonella
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