Tag Archives: centers for disease control and prevention

Research – Norovirus Symptoms

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Athens, Ga. – Norovirus infections—sometimes known as the stomach flu—typically last for the same amount of time, independent of age or the type of norovirus a person is infected with, according to a recent study by the University of Georgia College of Public Health, Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the journal Epidemiology and Infection.

Symptoms from a norovirus infection last about two days, a finding that is constant between infected individuals, as well as environmental settings. The incubation period-or time until symptoms start-is also a consistent 1.5 days from time of infection. These findings differ from the authors’ expectations

Research – Dairy Products are Most Common Source of Listeria Outbreaks

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Dairy products were the most common source of Listeria outbreaks that occurred between 1998 and 2012, according to a new federal study by the Food Safety Analytics Collaboration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The study was conducted to provide information that can be used to develop better food poisoning prevention measures.

Of the 952 outbreaks attributed to one pathogen during the 14-year study period, 24 were Listeria outbreaks. Dairy products were the source of half them. Turkey was the source of four; pork and sprouts each caused two; and beef, chicken, fruit and row crop vegetables each caused one. The fruit outbreak, the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak of 2011, sickened 147 people and killed 35.

Pet Treats from China – Animal Deaths

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Petco has become the first national pet specialty retailer to end sales of pet treats made in China. The decision was prompted by continuing reports of illness and deaths associated with the products.

Between 2007 an 2014, at least 5,600 dogs illnesses and 1,000 dog deaths were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The chicken, duck, or sweet potato jerky treats have also sickened 24 cats, and three people

USA – Christmas Updates – Shigella – Raw Milk Cheese – Listeria – Shellfish- Norovirus

Shigella blog

In 2013, the state of Indiana reported approximately 100 cases of the gastrointestinal bacterial infection, shigellosis. This year, state health officials say that number is more than 1,000.

Every year, about 14,000 cases of shigellosis are reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Food Safety News

Farm Country Cheese House of Lakeview, MI, is recalling about 1,136 pounds of Raw Milk Cheddar because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The Raw Milk Cheddar was distributed in Michigan, specifically in the Grand Rapids and Detroit metro areas, through retail stores and specialty shops.

 

Washington State health officials issued an emergency closure for harvesting and ordered a recall for all shellfish originating from a portion of Mason County’s Hammersley Inlet after several people who ate raw oysters became ill.

At least a dozen people who ate raw oysters in November became ill with symptoms often linked to norovirus, a common stomach virus that spreads easily through contaminated food or surfaces and person-to-person contact. Laboratory tests confirmed norovirus in two cases.

 

USA – Caramel Apples- Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria blog

The Minnesota Departments of Health and Agriculture are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis linked to eating caramel apples.

Four people in Minnesota have become ill as part of this outbreak. All were adults ages 59 to 90 years. They became ill in late October and November. All were hospitalized and two died.

 

USA – Vibrio vulnificans in 2014 – 7 Dead

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The Florida Department of Health (DOH) has reported an additional case of Vibriosis caused by the bacterium, Vibrio vulnificus in Pinellas County in the west-central part of the state. This is the fourth V. vulnificus case reported from Pinellas County this year.

This brings the state total to 32 cases and the death toll remains at seven.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. It normally lives in warm seawater and is part of a group of vibrios that are called “halophilic” because they require salt.

USA – Salmonella Outbreak Updates

Food Poisoning Bulletin

There are two Salmonella strains involved in the outbreak linked to contaminated bean sprouts that has sickened 87 people in 11 states. And both of them are rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

To solve and track this outbreak, public health investigators are using PulseNet, a national subtyping network of public health agencies that is coordinated by CDC.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

A bean sprout Salmonella outbreak has sickened 87 people in 11 states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty seven percent of those sickened have been hospitalized.

The outbreak has been linked to Wonton Foods Inc. of Brooklyn, which suspended production briefly to clean its facility and resumed production on November 29. Health officials says it’s likely that the contaminated sprouts are no longer in circulation as the maximum shelf life of mung bean sprouts is 12 days.

USA – Salmonella- Beansprouts – Avarcado – Illness

Vermont Dept Health Salmonellaa

An outbreak of Salmonella illnesses in the northeastern United States, including three cases in Vermont, has been associated with bean sprouts. This is the finding from an investigation by the Vermont Department of Health along with other state health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

CDC reported today that 68 people in 10 states have become ill as part of the outbreak. Eleven were hospitalized and no one has died. None of the Vermont residents were hospitalized, and all three have recovered from their illness.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

According to an FDA enforcement report, avocados packed by Unity Groves are being recalled for possible Salmonella contamination. This is an “ongoing” recall, dated the week of November 19, 2014.

There isn’t much information about the recalled avocados, other than they are packed in a brown cardboard box with green print. There are no known lot codes. The recall is for 80 cases with 32 whole avocados in each case. The recall initiation date is 10-30-2014 and the avocados were distributed in Texas. The label on the cardboard box reads “Unity Groves Pride of the Redlands Florida Avocados 25399 SW 157 Ave Homestead, FL 33031.” Latin Specialties got the avocados on October 10, 2014

Food Poisoning Bulletin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with the Massachusetts Department of Health to determine the source of a multistate cluster of Salmonella illnesses, according to MyFoxBoston.com. Health officials say they will provide more information once a food source is identified

USA – Food Outbreak in April Report – Chicken Marsala – Clostridium perfringens

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Chicken marsala tainted with C. perfringens was the likely source of a food poisoning outbreak that sickened 216 people who attended the April Food Safety Summit in Baltimore, Maryland health officials have concluded. C. perfringens is a common source of food poisoning, sickening an estimated 1 million Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Outbreaks often happen at schools, banquet centers and catered events.

More than half of those who were sickened developed symptoms, which include diarrhea and abdominal cramps, within 16 hours of of exposure. For most of them, illness lasted about 28 hours, which is typical for C. perfringens poisoning.

USA – Cyclospora Update – Texas Cyclospora Outbreak Source is Cilantro from Mexico, Again

Food Posioning Bulletin

Food contaminated with cyclospora sickened at least 304 people in 19 states this summer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of the illnesses, 133, are in Texas where health authorities have identified cilantro imported from Puebla, Mexico as the source of the illnesses. Cilantro from Puebla, Mexico was also the food source of a 2013 cyclospora outbreak in Texas that sickened 270 people.

Cyclospora is a parasite found in tropical or sub-tropical regions. If ingested in its mature state, the parasite causes an infection called cyclosporiasis. Only about 150 of these infections are reported nationwide each year. Normally associated with travel.

Food Poisoning Bulletin

Cilantro from Mexico is the source of a cyclospora outbreak in Texas for the second straight summer. At least 126 people in Texas contracted infections from eating food contaminated with the parasite before health officials declared an end to the outbreak late yesterday. Last year, 270 Texans contracted cyclosporiasis from cilantro grown in the same area identified the source this year, Puebla, Mexico.