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Business Insider 

A Texan woman has died after contracting a flesh-eating bacteria after eating raw oysters on a trip to the the Louisiana coast.

Jeanette LeBlanc died after a three-week battle with vibriosis, an illness typically caused by eating raw seafood, CBS reported. 

After shucking and eating roughly two dozen raw oysters with her wife and a friend, LeBlanc began having respiratory distress and a rash, which she and her wife initially assumed were signs of an allergic reaction. But, when she went to the hospital, doctors said she had been infected by Vibrio bacteria.

“It’s a flesh-eating bacteria,” her wife, Vicki Bergquist, told local news station KLFY. “She had severe wounds on her legs from that bacteria.”

The CDC estimates that vibriosis causes 80,000 illnesses each year in the US, most caused by consuming contaminated food. While most people recover from the infection, one variant — the Vibrio vulnificus infection — is often deadly. One in four infected people die, often within just a day or two of becoming ill.

The Malay Mail Online

Outbreak News Today

Health officials in the Bio Bio Region of Chile are reporting a large outbreak of Salmonella that has affected scores of people, according to local media (computer translated). The outbreak has been linked to homemade mayonnaise from the local “Dulce y Salado” in the city of Lota.

The Seremi de Salud Bío Bío confirmed 174 cases of salmonella making it the largest outbreak of the last 4 years nationwide and the largest recorded in the Bío Bío Region.

The outbreak has affected people ages 1 to 91 and 25 people required hospitalization for their illness.

Health officials are investigating whether raw egg was the source of the salmonella and the strain is being identified. In addition, since the local “Dulce y Salado” was closed last week, they don’t expect any significant rise in cases.

wiley online library

Abstract

New Indian Express

HYDERABAD: More than 20 people, 10 of whom were members of the same family, fell sick due to food poisoning after consuming the popular roadside snack in Hyderabad – Shawarma, at a restaurant named Bhukkad located at Yapral.

Charlie, a resident of Yapral, said, “On Friday night many of my family members ate shawarma bought from Bhukkad. Soon the next day all of them started experiencing nausea and vomiting. About 5 of them got admitted in hospital as they got very weak and had to be administered glucose.”

Outbreak News Today 

Image CDC

Salt Lake County health officials announced that customers of the 7-Eleven convenience store at 2666 West 7800 South in West Jordan who used the restroom at the store or consumed certain items on specific dates should contact the health department for information about receiving an injection to prevent hepatitis A. This possible exposure affects only this single 7-Eleven location.

Poultry Med 

Almost half of all campylobacter infections in Denmark are caused by consumption of domestic chicken meat. Campylobacter is the leading cause of foodborne infections in Denmark. A total of 4,677 campylobacter infections were registered in 2016, but these are only the tip of the iceberg: estimates suggest that for every registered case of campylobacter, another 12 cases go unreported.
Researchers from the National Food Institute have produced a report for the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, which show what proportion of cases acquired in Denmark can be attributed to eight different food and environmental sources.
Consumption of domestic chicken meat continues to be the most important source accounting for 46% of campylobacter infections acquired in Denmark, followed by cattle (beef, milk or direct contact), which accounts for 19% of cases and consumption of imported chicken meat (9%). Contact with dogs and exposure to contaminated seawater each account for approximately 4% of infections.

Barf Blog  

Jeanette LeBlanc contracted a deadly flesh-eating bacteria called Vibrio that day, resulting in her death a few weeks later.

LeBlanc’s symptoms started out similar to an allergic reaction. In fact, that’s what she suspected it was before doctors told her otherwise. She had red patches of a rash on her legs and experienced respiratory issues before the symptoms worsened, KLFY reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the bacteria that causes Vibriosis creates 80,000 cases of illness in the United States each year and 100 deaths. The Vibrio bacteria live in coastal waters, those where oysters also live. The oysters contract the bacteria by filtering water to feed and the bacteria ends up in the tissues of the oyster, then when someone like LeBlanc eats it raw, they also contract the bacteria.

In Hong Kong, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (December 29) reported its investigations into three food poisoning outbreaks suspected to be related to the consumption of raw oysters in three different restaurants.

Food Safety News

Crescent City Meats in Metairie, LA Saturday recalled approximately 430 pounds of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Tasso Cajun Spicy Ham products because the RTE product may be underprocessed, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

The products were produced on Nov. 9, Dec. 18, and Dec. 20, 2017. The following products are subject to recall: [View Label (PDF only)]

• 5-lb vacuum packs that were shipped in 10-lb. cases with the product labeled “TASSO CAJUN SPICY HAM READY TO EAT.”  The cases contain lot codes 1631317, 1635517, and 1635217 or 35217.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “Est. 13244” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The items were distributed for institutional use in the New Orleans metropolitan area.