Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK. The majority of people who get ill from campylobacter recover fully and quickly but it can cause long-term and severe health problems in some. Children under five and older people are most at risk because they may have weaker immune systems.
You can’t see campylobacter, smell it or even taste it on food. But if it affects you, you won’t forget it.
Posted in Campylobacter, Uncategorized
By Kate Kelland
(Reuters) – Scientists seeking new ways to fight drug-resistant superbugs have mapped the genomes of more than 3,000 bacteria, including samples of a bug taken from Alexander Fleming’s nose and a dysentery-causing strain from a World War One soldier.
The DNA of deadly strains of plague, dysentery and cholera were also decoded in what the researchers said was an effort to better understand some of the world’s most dangerous diseases and develop new ways to fight them.
The samples from Fleming – the British scientist credited with discovering the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928 – were among more than 5,500 bugs at Britain’s National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) one of the world’s largest collections of clinically relevant bacteria.
The first bacteria to be deposited in the NCTC was a strain of dysentery-causing Shigella flexneri that was isolated in 1915 from a soldier in the trenches of World War One.
“Knowing very accurately what bacteria looked like before and during the introduction of antibiotics and vaccines, and comparing them to current strains, … shows us how they have responded to these treatments,” said Julian Parkhill of Britain’s Wellcome Sanger Institute who co-led the research.
“This in turn helps us develop new antibiotics and vaccines.”
Posted in Pathogen, pathogenic, Research, Shigella, Uncategorized
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that colonizes and infects various host species and has been found in the poultry production chain, raising concerns about possible transmission from farm to fork. The objective of this study was to use meta-analytical methods to estimate the pooled prevalence of MRSA in chickens, turkeys, chicken meat, and turkey meat. Three electronic databases (PubMed, LILACS, and SciELO) were searched to establish MRSA prevalence from 51 studies published from 2003 through May 2017. The heterogeneity was assessed, and the pooled MRSA prevalence was calculated by using the random effects model according to the method of DerSimonian and Laird. Pooled MRSA prevalence (95% confidence interval [CI]) in turkeys, turkey meat, broilers, and chicken meat was 36% (1 to 78%), 13% (1 to 28%), 5% (2 to 9%), and 5% (3 to 8%), respectively. South America had the highest MRSA prevalence (27%; 95% CI, 17 to 37%), and North America had the lowest (1%; 95% CI, 0 to 2%). Livestock-associated MRSA has been isolated from poultry and poultry meat, indicating that this variant can spread from farm to fork. The presence of MRSA in poultry and poultry meat poses risks to public health, and steps should be taken to mitigate the contamination and spread of this bacterium along the poultry production chain.
One part of food safety is keeping your hands clean. That’s why food safety experts tell consumers to wash their hands before they prepare food or before they eat. That can be difficult when you are away from home. That’s why hand sanitizers are so popular.
But one company is selling unapproved hand sanitizers that claim to prevent infections from many different pathogens, so the FDA is seeking a permanent injunction against that company. The company is BioDefense Inc. of Lake Forest, California. The product is Zylast topical antiseptics.
The company claims that the hand sanitizer is effective against pathogens such as norovirus, rotavirus, flu virus, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and Ebola. These are drug claims, and so the product is regulated by FDA as a drug. The press release states, “These products from Innovative BioDefense, Inc. have not been proven to be safe and effective for these uses and are not approved by the FDA.”
Posted in Uncategorized
IPOH — An 11-year-old boy died due to food poisoning at the Seri Manjung Hospital yesterday.
Perak Health Department director Dr Ding Lay Ming said the boy and six other family members suffered effects of food poisoning from 1am to 5am on Friday before seeking treatment at a private clinic the same day.
Besides the usual symptoms of stomach ache, diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration, fatigue and fever, she said one of them suffered fits.
“Four of them including the boy were admitted to the Seri Manjung Hospital on Saturday (June 2) but the boy died of complications while receiving treatment yesterday,” she said in a statement today.
Dr Ding said the three others were in stable condition and recovering.
The head of the French company at the centre of an international baby milk scandal denied Friday that it was responsible for the contamination that triggered a recall of formula in over 80 countries, calling it “an accident”.
Lactalis, one of the world’s biggest dairy groups, was forced to recall 12 million packages of powdered baby milk in 83 countries in December and January after being linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning in children.
French officials began investigating the company after at least 36 infants fell sick from drinking milk sold under the Picot or Milumel brands. Cases of suspected contamination were also reported among children in Spain and Greece.
What does flying in a commercial airliner have in common with working at the office or relaxing at home?
According to a new study, the answer is the microbiome — the community of bacteria found in homes, offices and aircraft cabins. Believed to be the first to comprehensively assess the microbiome of aircraft, the study found that the bacterial communities accompanying airline passengers at 30,000 feet have much in common with the bacterial communities surrounding people in their homes and offices.
Using advanced sequencing technology, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University studied the bacteria found on three components of an airliner cabin that are commonly touched by passengers: tray tables, seat belt buckles and the handles of lavatory doors. They swabbed those items before and after 10 transcontinental flights and also sampled air in the rear of the cabin during flight.
What they found was surprisingly unexciting.
“Airline passengers should not be frightened by sensational stories about germs on a plane,” said Vicki Stover Hertzberg, a professor in Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and a co-author of the study. “They should recognize that microbes are everywhere and that an airplane is no better and no worse than an office building, a subway car, home or a classroom. These environments all have microbiomes that look like places occupied by people.”
Posted in Uncategorized
Two week catch up due to Holidays 🙂
RASFF-Salmonella (present /25g) in sesame seeds from Nigeria in the Netherlands
RASFF-Salmonella (present) in chilled liquid egg yolk from Belgium in the Netherlands
RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Typhimurium (present /25g) in organic mixed salads containing red and green batavia and spinach leaves from Italy in Germany
RASFF-Salmonella (in 1 out of 5 samples) in chicken fillet preparations from Belgium in Belgium
RASFF-Salmonella group C1 (presence /25g) in frozen poultry kebab meat from Poland in Poland
RASFF-Salmonella (present /25g) in frozen marinated cooked chicken half breasts from Brazil in the Netherlands
RASFF-Salmonella (presence /25g) in organic whole cumin seeds from the United Kingdom in Spain
RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Plymouth (presence in 2 out of 5 samples /25g) in sesame seeds from Sudan in Greece
RASFF-Salmonella (presence /25g) in sesame seeds from Nigeria in the Netherlands
RASFF-Salmonella (present /125g) in whole almonds from the United States, via the United Kingdom in Germany
RASFF-Salmonella enterica ser. Senftenberg (presence /25g) in turmeric powder from India, via the United Kingdom in France
RASFF-Salmonella (present /25g) in sesame seed from Nigeria in the Netherlands
RASFF-Salmonella (in 1 out of 5 samples /25g) in frozen salted chicken half breasts from Brazil in the UK
Two week catch up due to Holidays 🙂
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 72; Tot. = 83 µg/kg – ppb) in raw ground groundnuts from Senegal in France
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 42; Tot. = 46 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios from the United States in the Netherlands
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 6.1 µg/kg – ppb) in blanched groundnut kernels from India in the Netherlands
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 76; Tot. = 84 µg/item) in groundnut kernels from Senegal in France
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 66; Tot. = 70 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios from the United States, via Belgium in Belgium
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 256 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey in Spain
RASFF-aflatoxins (Tot. = 18.2 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachio kernels from Iran in Germany
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 49.6; Tot. = 55.6 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts in shell from Egypt in Germany
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 7.5 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from India, via Switzerland in the Netherlands
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 40.80 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios from Turkey in Austria
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 25.1; Tot. = 27 / B1 = 128.3; Tot. = 143.3 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts in shell from China in Bulgaria
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 3.6 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from Brazil in Bulgaria
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 20.0 µg/kg – ppb) in whole dried chillies from India in the UK
RASFF-aflatoxins (Tot. = 17.3 µg/kg – ppb) in dried figs from Turkey in France
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 3.9; Tot. = 4.5 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts in shell from China in Portugal
RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 44; Tot. = 50 µg/kg – ppb) in pistachios in shell from the United States in France
Salmonella infection (salmonellosis) is a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract. Salmonella bacteria typically live in animal and human intestines and are shed through feces. Humans become infected most frequently through contaminated water or food.
Salmonellas are a group of common bacteria that cause food poisoning. They are usually spread by inadequate cooking and through cross-contamination. Salmonella bacteria are most often found in:
Young children, the elderly and people whose immune systems are not working properly have a greater risk of becoming severely ill with food poisoning caused by salmonella. The NHS has more information about the symptoms of salmonella poisoning.
Posted in Salmonella, Uncategorized
