For 2018, 29 countries reported 7 204 confirmed yersiniosis cases in the EU/EEA. The overall notification rate was 1.7 per 100 000 population and remained stable from 2014 to 2018. The highest rates were reported by Finland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. The highest rate was detected in 0-4 year-old children; 7.9 per 100 000 population for males and 6.8 per 100 000 population for females.
Attachment is a necessary first step in bacterial commitment to surface-associated behaviors that include colonization, biofilm formation, and host-directed virulence. The Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa can initially attach to surfaces via its single polar flagellum. Although many bacteria quickly detach, some become irreversibly attached and express surface-associated structures, such as Type IV pili, and behaviors, including twitching motility and biofilm initiation. P. aeruginosa that lack the GTPase FlhF assemble a randomly placed flagellum that is motile; however, we observed that these mutant bacteria show defects in biofilm formation comparable to those seen for non-motile, aflagellate bacteria. This phenotype was associated with altered behavior of ΔflhF bacteria immediately following surface-attachment. Forward and reverse genetic screens led to the discovery that FlhF interacts with FimV to control flagellar rotation at a surface, and implicated cAMP signaling in this pathway. Although cAMP controls many transcriptional programs in P. aeruginosa, known targets of this second messenger were not required to modulate flagellar rotation in surface-attached bacteria. Instead, alterations in switching behavior of the motor appeared to result from direct or indirect effects of cAMP on switch complex proteins and/or the stators associated with them.
Attachment to a surface often triggers programs of gene expression that alter the behavior, virulence and fitness of bacteria. Initial contact is usually mediated by surface exposed adhesins, such as flagella or pili/fimbriae, and there is much interest in how these structures might sense and respond to surface attachment. The human bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa can initially contact surfaces via its polar flagellum, the structure that also powers bacterial swimming. We observed that wild-type bacteria quickly stopped rotating their flagellum after surface attachment, but that a mutant lacking the flagellar-associated protein FlhF did not. Using a combination of genetic approaches, we demonstrated that FlhF interacts with a component of the flagellar rotor (FliG) and with a polar scaffolding protein that positively regulates cAMP production (FimV) to stop flagellar rotation and thereby favor bacterial persistence at a surface. We provide evidence that the second messenger cAMP is the likely signal generated by flagellar-mediated surface attachment and show that cAMP is sufficient to alter the behavior of the flagellar motor.
Nebraska state and local health officials are investigating five cases of hepatitis A in the Omaha metro area.
The five cases have been reported within the past three weeks, with symptom onset between October 15 and November 5. That means the five likely were exposed in mid-September, Adi Pour, director of the Douglas County Health Department, said Friday.
The five, all female, range in age from 14 to 73. Three of the five were hospitalized. Two have been released; health officials don’t know the status of the third hospitalized person.
Pour said health officials so far have not identified a product or place connecting the individuals. They are spread throughout the community and have not had any known contact with one another. Health officials have excluded international travel and shared needles as possible routes of transmission.
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At least three people are sick with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating ground beef sold by New Seasons Market stores. The retailer is recalling an unrevealed amount of meat.
Although the implicated ground beef was sold between Oct. 19 and 23, there is concern that some people may have it in their home freezers. The Oregon Health Authority issued a public notice urging customers who purchased the ground beef to throw it away immediately.
The recalled ground beef comes in 5 percent, 10 percent and 20 percent fat content varieties and is ground at individual New Seasons Market stores’ meat counters. The retailer has stores in Oregon, Washington and California.
Nairobi — The Kenya Bureau of Standard has suspended five maize flour brands from the market citing high levels of aflatoxin.
In a statement released Saturday, KEBS says Dola Maize Meal, Kifaru Maize Meal, Starehe Maize Meal, 210 Maize Meal, Jembe Maize Meal have been suspended following several tests done by the regulator.
“Following consistent market surveillance and testing, it has been established that the brands have not made the cut because their levels of aflatoxin are higher than the maximum limit allowed by relevant Kenya Standards,” reads the statement.
KEBS has also instructed the manufacturers to discontinue manufacturing and recall them from the market while instituting corrective neasures.
Ezzo Sausage Company, a Columbus, Ohio establishment, is recalling approximately 25,115 pounds of sausage products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The ready-to-eat sausage products were produced on Oct. 29, 2019, Oct. 30, 2019 and Nov. 5, 2019. This spreadsheet contains a list of the products subject to the recall. [View labels (PDF only)
The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 1838A” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to distribution centers in Indiana and Ohio.
The problem was discovered when the firm notified FSIS of a positive sample result for Listeria monocytogenes.
There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for ready-to-eat entrees due to the products containing FDA-regulated ingredients that have been recalled by Mann’s Packing Co. due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. FSIS is issuing this public health alert out of the utmost of caution to ensure that consumers are aware that these products should not be consumed.
The following products have been identified as containing products involved in the FDA recall:
FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators. Consumers that have these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.
The aims of this work were (a) to select the minimum concentrations of two bacteriocin‐producing lactobacilli strains to reduce Listeria monocytogenes growth in whole milk, (b) to evaluate the individual and combined application of these chosen lactobacilli concentrations as protective culture in this food and, (c) to estimate if lactobacilli growth caused undesirable changes in the visible characteristics of milk. The selected minimum lactobacilli concentration with antilisterial activity was 106 CFU ml−1 for both lactobacilli. Although a high initial concentration of L. monocytogenes (104 CFU ml−1) was added to milk, a notable reduction on listerial counts (2–4 log CFU ml−1) was achieved in comparison to the control. These lactobacilli showed a good adaptability in milk reaching optimal counts and not causing undesirable visible changes. In conclusion, the use of these lactobacilli could be considered as a bio‐strategy potentially effective to limit the contamination by L. monocytogenes in certain milk‐derived products.
This study was performed to compare the effectiveness of saturated steam and superheated steam for the inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes on the surface of cherry tomatoes and oranges. It also determined the effect of the steam processes on the color, texture, Vitamin C content, and antioxidant capacity and changes in these parameters during chilled storage. Cherry tomatoes and oranges inoculated with the three foodborne pathogens were treated with saturated steam at 100 °C and superheated steam at 125, 150, 175, and 200 °C for various time intervals. After the cherry tomatoes and oranges were exposed to superheated steam at 200 °C for 3 or 20 s, all tested pathogens were reduced to below the detection limit (1 or 1.7 log, respectively) without significant changes in color, texture, vitamin C content, and antioxidant capacity (P > .05) at 4 °C for up to 9 days. Our results suggest that superheated steam treatment can be effective at decreasing pathogen populations when compared to saturated steam, without significant quality deterioration, and thus, this technique demonstrates great potential to improve the microbial safety of fresh produce.
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On October 25, 2018, at 2:15 a.m., a woman aged 30 years and her mother, aged 55 years, both of Egyptian descent, arrived at an emergency department in New Jersey in hypotensive shock after 16 hours of abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. The daughter also reported blurry vision and double vision (diplopia), shortness of breath, chest pain, and difficulty speaking. She appeared lethargic and had ophthalmoplegia and bilateral ptosis. Both women were admitted to the hospital. The mother improved after fluid resuscitation, but the daughter required vasopressor support in the intensive care unit. Although the mother did not have evidence of cranial nerve involvement on admission, during the next 24 hours, she developed dysphagia and autonomic dysfunction with syncope and orthostasis and was transferred to the intensive care unit as her symptoms progressively worsened similar to those of her daughter.
Two days before admission, both women had eaten fesikh, a traditional Egyptian fish dish of uneviscerated gray mullet that is fermented and salt-cured. Fesikh has been linked to foodborne botulism, including a large type E outbreak in Egypt in 1993 (1). The Egyptian Ministry of Health has since issued public health warnings regarding fesikh before Sham el-Nessim, the Egyptian holiday commemorating the beginning of spring, during which fesikh is commonly prepared and eaten.* Foodborne botulism outbreaks associated with fesikh and similar uneviscerated salt-cured fish have also occurred in North America (2); two outbreaks occurred among persons of Egyptian descent in New Jersey in 1992 (3) and 2005 (4).
