Category Archives: Uncategorized

ECDC 

In relation to the 8^th European Antibiotic Awareness Day on 18 November, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has published the annual report of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) [1]. On the same occasion, an update with 2014 data of the EARS-Net interactive database on antimicrobial resistance [2] and the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Network (ESAC-Net) interactive database on antimicrobial consumption [3] was released, on the ECDC website.

The data on antimicrobial resistance showed that the percentages of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates resistant to fluoroquinolones, third-generation cephalosporins and aminoglycosides, as well as combined resistance to all three antibiotic groups increased significantly at European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) level over the last four years. A significant increase was also observed for carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae.

For Escherichia coli, resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and combined resistance to fluoroquinolones, third-generation cephalosporins and aminoglycosides increased significantly at EU/EEA level. The increase in combined resistance, and the increase in resistance to last line groups of antimicrobials such as the carbapenems, is a serious cause for concern and a threat to patient safety in Europe.

Data on antimicrobial consumption in 2014 show that the overall consumption of antimicrobials in the community in the EU/EEA was 21.6 defined daily doses (DDD) per 1,000 inhabitants and per day. The large inter-country variation in antibiotic consumption observed in previous years remained. When antibiotic consumption was expressed in terms of number of packages (a better estimate for prescriptions) per 1,000 inhabitants and per day, five countries (Denmark, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) showed a significant decrease during 2010–2014.

During the same period, antibiotic consumption in the hospital sector (expressed in DDD per 1,000 inhabitants and per day) showed a significant increasing trend. A significant increase in the consumption of specific antibiotic groups, e.g. carbapenems, was also observed during this period at EU/EEA level, and in several countries. Although the vast majority of antibiotics is consumed in the community, i.e. outside hospitals, antibiotic consumption in hospitals is a major driver of the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria responsible for healthcare-associated infections.

FDA

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act is based on preventing problems before they happen, rather than solely responding to outbreaks of foodborne illness.  But in order to develop prevention-based systems, you need data and other information to help identify hazards that need to be addressed and minimized.

That is why sampling is an important part of this preventive approach and why the FDA is developing a new microbiological surveillance sampling model designed to identify patterns that may help predict and prevent future contamination by disease-causing bacteria.

This new proactive and preventive approach was developed in 2014 and is part of FDA’s efforts to further protect the food supply by keeping contaminated food from reaching consumers. The FDA will publicly share the data it receives through this approach and will engage stakeholders throughout the process.

Surveillance sampling is just one type of sampling that is important for food safety.  There are different kinds of sampling, and the methods that the FDA uses fall into three broad categories: environmental, product, and emergency response/emerging issues sampling.

• Types of Sampling
• What to Expect When the FDA Collects Samples
• Recent Sampling Activity

Penn State Food Safety

CDC updated the information regarding the outbreak of Salmonella related to contaminated cucumbers that began in July.    There have been 838 cases of Salmonella reported in 38 states with 165 hospitalizations and 4 deaths.

E.coli Blog

“Chicken Salad made with Rotisserie Chicken” from Costco has been connected with at least one case of E. coli O157:H7 in Washington. Consumers who purchased this product – item number 37719 – from any Washington Costco location should discard it.

The Department of Health, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other western states, are investigating E. coli illnesses from chicken salad purchased from various Costco stores in late October. Washington has confirmed one case of E. coli O157:H7 from King County, who became ill in late October. This confirmed case was not hospitalized.

HPS

Campylobacter is a bacterium responsible for around 280,000 cases of foodborne disease every year in the UK. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) research has shown that 60% – 80% of Scottish Campylobacter cases are linked to a chicken source.

FSS considers the reduction of Campylobacter levels found in chickens an important food safety priority in terms of protecting public health and is working with others, including the Food Standards Agency (FSA), key stakeholders and consumers, to reduce Campylobacter infection in the Scottish population.

On 19 November, the FSA published the first set of results from the second year UK-wide survey on fresh shop bought chickens. The 1032 samples collected between July to September 2015 show a decrease in the number of birds with the highest level of contamination compared to the same period last year.

The key findings are:

• 15% of chickens tested positive for Campylobacter within the highest band of contamination;*
• 76% of chickens tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter;
• 0.3% of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination;
• 6% of packaging tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter.

*More than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g). These units indicate the degree of contamination on each sample.

CFIA

The food recall warning issued on November 20, 2015 has been updated to include additional distribution information. This additional information was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) food safety investigation.

Glen Echo Fine Foods is recalling Inverloch Cheddar Cheese imported from Scotland from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.

CFIA

Glen Echo Fine Foods is recalling Inverloch Cheddar Cheese imported from Scotland from the marketplace due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.

RASFF-Diarrhoeic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) toxins (178 µg/kg – ppb) in chilled mussels (Mytilus galloprovencialis) from Slovenia in Slovenia

RASFF-histamine (583 mg/kg – ppm) in frozen yellowfin tuna fillets from Spain in Italy

RASFF-high count of Escherichia coli (490 MPN/100g) in mussels from the Netherlands in Belgium

RASFF-shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (presence /25g) in roast beef from Germany in Italy

RASFF –shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (O142:H38 /25g) in frozen boneless beef (bos taurus) from Brazil in the Netherlands.

RASFF-Salmonella Havana (presence /25g) in frozen minced lamb from Sweden in Finland

RASFF-Salmonella Newport (present /25g) in frozen chicken breast from Poland in Italy

RASFF-Salmonella (presence /25g) in betel leaves from India in the UK

RASFF-Salmonella (detected /25g) in betel leaves from India in the UK

RASFF-Salmonella (detected /25g) in betel leaves from India in the UK

RASFF-Salmonella (detected /25g) in betel leaves from India in the UK

RASFF-Salmonella (presence /25g) in frozen scallops with roe from Peru in France