MORE children at a school forced to close following an outbreak of E.coli have tested positive for the illness.
Tests have revealed eight youngsters from Newcastle’s Friarswood Primary School are infected with E.coli 0157.
Samples taken from all 153 pupils at the school are still being processed.
A school at the centre of an E.coli outbreakis unlikely to open until the middle of next week at the earliest.
Officers from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) were at Friarswood Primary School, in Newcastle, today to collect samples from pupils and staff.
All students and workers are being tested for the potentially deadly bacteria after three cases of E.coli were confirmed this week.
A further 10 possible cases have already been identified, although no new cases of the infection, which causes sickness and diarrhoea – and in extreme cases can lead to serious, or even fatal, kidney and blood complications – have been discovered in the last 24 hours.
The HPA, which is overseeing a deep-clean of the 153-pupil school, said there is no date set for when youngsters can return to classes.
On June 20, 2011, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security notified the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) of an Indiana fire station that reported gastrointestinal illness among a substantial percentage of their workers, causing missed workdays and one hospitalization as a result of cryptosporidiosis. All ill firefighters had responded to a barn fire in Michigan, 15 miles from the Michigan-Indiana border on June 6.
On June 6, 2011, a fire occurred in a barn housing approximately 240 week-old calves. A total of 34 firefighters responded from three Michigan fire stations and one Indiana fire station. Local hydrant water and on site swimming pond water were used to extinguish the fire. Investigators hypothesized that exposures to calves or contaminated drinking water were potential infection sources.
The incident was investigated with the following findings, the following public health recommendations were issued: 1) discontinue swimming in the pond, 2) practice thorough hygiene to reduce fecal contamination and fecal-oral exposures, and 3) decontaminate firefighting equipment properly. No additional primary or secondary cases associated with this exposure have been reported. The findings highlight a novel work-related disease exposure for firefighters and the need for public education regarding cryptosporidiosis prevention.
Posted in CDC, Cryptosporidium, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Microbiology, outbreak, Pathogen, Water
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) launched their annual report on zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks.
The report, providing data on 15 zoonotic diseases in the European Union for 2010, supports the European Commission and EU Member States in their consideration of possible measures to protect citizens from risks related to zoonoses.
The report highlights a positive progress in the reduction of reported human cases of salmonellosis by almost 9% in 2010, as well as decreases in other zoonoses such as infections caused by Yersinia enterocolitica, Trichinella and Listeria monocytogenes. “Decreases in human cases of salmonellosis and other zoonotic diseases show that EU level control measures, resulting from surveillance of disease in humans with information from food and animals, are effective”, states Johan Giesecke, Chief Scientist at ECDC.
On the other hand, the number of cases of campylobacteriosis has been increasing over the last five years, and human cases of Shiga toxin/verotoxin -producing Escherichia coli (STEC/VTEC) are also increasing. These trends “highlight the need of further joint efforts”, continues Prof. Gieseke. “For this, ECDC will continue to strengthen its links with all important partners and foster collaboration in order to decrease the occurrence of these diseases in the EU”.
Dr. Ron Cutler, a biomedical scientist in London specialising in infectious diseases and their control and treatment, has run studies at Queen Mary – University of London, proving that such things as restaurant high chairs and your car’s steering wheel are likely to have more germs than a public toilet seat.
Now he’s examined 200 bills of currency (British bank notes) and 45 credit cards and discovered that 26 per cent of the notes and 47 per cent of the cards had high levels of bacteria. In other words, money and credit cards are dirtier than a toilet seat.
Posted in Bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Hygiene, Microbiology, Pathogen
Tagged science
A third of small food businesses find food safety regulations the most demanding and onerous tasks. However, nearly three in four believe that these regulations help their business by building consumer confidence.The findings are the results of a survey for the Food Safety Authority among small to medium sized food businesses. The survey showed that 45% of small food businesses believe that the food safety standards are stricter than they need to be. It found that 19% of small food businesses are encountering difficulties in complying with food safety regulations. The survey showed that 97% of small food businesses that had been inspected for the first time understood what they needed to do and 87% felt they had access to all the information they required. It showed 80% of these businesses trusting the Food Safety Authority to deal with businesses fairly.
Posted in Eurofins Laboratories, Food Inspections, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Microbiology
Tagged science
The sick and unfit will have to pass medical tests under a new order passed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). This is interesting but I am not convinced that a yearly check would have any massive effect on Food Safety.
The order asks manufacturers to ensure that these food-handlers, regardless of the safety precautions they take at work, undergo a mandatory medical examination for ratifying their physical fitness in order to pursue their trade.
Enhanced laboratory detection of non-O157:H7 types of E. coli from stool samples of the sick is causing a surge in positive findings for toxic E. coli that is exponentially larger than the number of labs adopting the enhanced methods, a study by a Washington State Department of Health has found.
Washington State disease trackers looked at laboratories in Washington and examined the rate of non-O157 E. coli detection as more and more labs developed the tools to test for varied STECs. According to a summary of the research published this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of laboratories in Washington State that tested for varied STECs increased from 2 (4 percent) in 2005 to 19 (33 percent) in 2010.
Four serogroups accounted for more than 80 percent of non-O157 STEC case findings. They were E. coli O26, E. coli O103, E. coli O121 and E. coli O111.
FoodWorld 