Category Archives: Uncategorized

RASFF – Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15 CFU/250ml) in natural mineral water from Italy in Italy

RASFF – foodborne outbreak suspected (histamine poisoning) to be caused by chilled tuna (Thunnus albacares) loins from Spain in France

RASFF – shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (stx+) in frozen beef from Brazil in Italy

RASFF-shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (stx1+) in frozen beef meat from Brazil in the Netherlands

RASFF – aflatoxins (B1 = 8.4; Tot. = 10 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled peanuts from China in Spain

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 130.3; Tot. = 143.1 / B1 = 130.7; Tot. = 140.7 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled pistachios from Iran in Italy

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 4.8; Tot. = 6.0 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from Argentina in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 9.1; Tot. = 11 µg/kg – ppb) in peanuts from Nicaragua in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 5.2; Tot. = 5.2 µg/kg – ppb) in peanuts from Nicaragua in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 7.4 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnut kernels from Egypt in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 17.9; Tot. = 21.4 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled hazelnuts from Turkey in Italy

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 20; Tot. = 24 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from India in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 14; Tot. = 17 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from India in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 17; Tot. = 20 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from Argentina in the Netherlands

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 12.1 µg/kg – ppb) in dried chillies from Sri Lanka in Switzerland

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 2.9; Tot. = 3.2 / B1 = 1.4; Tot. = 1.9 µg/kg – ppb) in shelled groundnuts from Brazil in the UK

RASFF-aflatoxins (B1 = 8.2; Tot. = 8.2 µg/kg – ppb) in groundnuts from China in the Netherlands

Outbreak News Today

San Diego County: Nearly 400 hepatitis A cases reported in outbreak, local health emergency declared

With the investigation ongoing in San Diego County over the local outbreak of hepatitis A, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors ratified a local health emergency yesterday.

The emergency was declared on Sept. 1 by the County public health officer to raise awareness of the outbreak and allow the County to potentially ask for mutual aid if necessary. Board action was required to extend the local health emergency beyond its initial seven-day period.

To date, 398 people have been infected, including 15 deaths. Seven out of 10 people required hospitalization for their illness.

Food Poisoning Bulletin 

Four people in Minnesota have been sickened in the deadly Salmonella outbreak linked to imported Maradol papayas. Nationwide, at least 210 people in 23 states are sick with eight different strains of Salmonella bacteria.

Poultry Med

Israel has ordered the recall of about 11 million shell eggs out of fear they may be contaminated with  Salmonella enteritidis. The recall includes all eggs sorted at the same sorting station, since there is no traceability system for eggs in Israel.
The origin of the eggs is “Yesh Maof” the biggest egg producer in North Israel. 70,000 layers will be destroyed.

The Indian Express

120 school children fell sick in China due to food poisoning

As many as 120 children in three kindergartens fell ill due to food poisoning in east China’s Jiangxi Province, officials said Wednesday. The Nanchang educational department confirmed Wednesday that the provincial children’s hospital has given medical examination to the 120 children.

Among them, 36 children have been hospitalised, 62 put under medical observation and 22 discharged, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The children showed symptoms such as vomiting and abdominal pains after they returned home yesterday afternoon.

The News

Islamabad :Over 900 people reached Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Polyclinic, the capital city’s major government hospitals, during three Eidul Azha holidays, for food poisoning.

Of these cases, PIMS received around 500 and Polyclinic over 400. Dr Wasim Khawaja spokesman for PIMS said most of patients suffering from food poisoning, caused either by overeating or consumption of unhealthy food, had been discharged, while the rest would be sent home soon after treatment.

Eurosurveillance

Recurrent seasonal outbreak of an emerging serotype of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC O55:H7 Stx2a) in the south west of England, July 2014 to September 2015

The first documented British outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O55:H7 began in the county of Dorset, England, in July 2014. Since then, there have been a total of 31 cases of which 13 presented with haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). The outbreak strain had Shiga toxin (Stx) subtype 2a associated with an elevated risk of HUS. This strain had not previously been isolated from humans or animals in England. The only epidemiological link was living in or having close links to two areas in Dorset. Extensive investigations included testing of animals and household pets. Control measures included extended screening, iterative interviewing and exclusion of cases and high risk contacts. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) confirmed that all the cases were infected with similar strains. A specific source could not be identified. The combination of epidemiological investigation and WGS indicated, however, that this outbreak was possibly caused by recurrent introductions from a local endemic zoonotic source, that a highly similar endemic reservoir appears to exist in the Republic of Ireland but has not been identified elsewhere, and that a subset of cases was associated with human-to-human transmission in a nursery.