There’s nothing worse than athletes trying to speak.
Bull Durham captured it (below).
This ain’t Rocky, this is Salmonella.
Apparently, it was representative of Cale Millen’s dedication to the University of Oregon. The newest Ducks commit, a Mount Si (Wash.) three-star junior, announced his college decision on Sunday and celebrated by chugging a glass of three raw eggs with his future head coach, Mario Cristobal, as captured by The Oregonian Oregon beat writer Andrew Nemec.
Outbreak News Today reports on a statement from the French about the Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) O26 outbreak linked to the consumption of raw milk reblochons produced at the Cruseilles (Haute-Savoie) site of Chabert. French health officials are now reporting 14 children aged one to five years included in the investigation.
As of May 31, 6 children with HUS were infected with the same strain of E. coli O26, for which the consumption or reblochon incriminated is documented. These six children are domiciled in several regions of metropolitan France (Center-Val de Loire, PACA, Ile-de-France, Auverhne-Rhone-Aples, Pays-de-la-Loire); and for 8 other children, investigations are in progress. Of these, two had signs of gastroenteritis and six had HUS. One of the children with HUS died; the investigation around this case is in progress. To date, it cannot be dismissed or affirmed that these cases of HUS are linked to the consumption of reblochon: non-isolated and characterized strain, or consumption of reblochon incriminated not yet documented.
AHS started investigating a number of confirmed cases on March 29.
The outbreak was connected to some pork products sold and distributed by The Meat Shop at Pine Haven. Several other businesses were impacted since they used the affected pork products and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a food recall.
In total, there were 42 lab-confirmed cases of E. coli linked to this outbreak.
Thirteen patients needed medical treatment at the hospital and one person “died likely due to infection with E. coli,” AHS said.
“Our thoughts remain with the family of the patient who died and all of those affected by this,” said Dr. Jasmine Hasselback, medical officer of health for the Edmonton zone. “We would like to thank our federal and provincial partners for their collaboration on this investigation.”
Lettuce has been implicated in human norovirus (HuNoV) outbreaks. The virus is stable on the leaf surface for at least 2 weeks; however, the dynamics of virus internalization have not been fully investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess the internalization and distribution of HuNoV and two surrogate viruses, porcine sapovirus (SaV) and Tulane virus (TV), in lettuce and spinach.
Viral inoculations through the roots of seedlings and the petiole of leaves from mature plants were performed, and the viruses were tracked on days 1 and 6 post-root inoculation and at 16 h and 72 h post-petiole inoculation. Confocal microscopy was used to visualize root-internalized HuNoV.
In both lettuce and spinach, (i) HuNoV was internalized into the roots and leaves at similar RNA titers, whereas surrogate viruses were more restricted to the roots, (ii) all three viruses were stable inside the roots and leaves for at least 6 days, and (iii) HuNoV disseminated similarly inside the central veins and leaf lamina, whereas surrogate viruses were more restricted to the central veins. Infectious TV, but not SaV, was detectable in all tissues, suggesting that TV has greater stability than SaV. HuNoV was visualized inside the roots’ vascular bundle and the leaf mesophyll of both plants.
In conclusion, using surrogate viruses may underestimate the level of HuNoV internalization into edible leaves. The internalization of HuNoV through roots and cut leaves and the dissemination into various spinach and lettuce tissues raise concerns of internal contamination through irrigation and/or wash water.
IMPORTANCE Human noroviruses are the leading cause of foodborne outbreaks, with lettuce being implicated in the majority of outbreaks. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis in all age groups, with more severe symptoms in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients, contributing to over 200,000 deaths worldwide annually. The majority of deaths due to HuNoV occur in the developing world, where limited sanitation exists along with poor wastewater treatment facilities, resulting in the contamination of water resources that are often used for irrigation.
Our study confirms the ability of lettuce and spinach to internalize HuNoV from contaminated water through the roots into the edible leaves. Since these leafy greens are consumed with minimal processing that targets only surface pathogens, the internalized HuNoV presents an added risk to consumers. Thus, preventive measures should be in place to limit the contamination of irrigation water. In addition, better processing technologies are needed to inactivate internalized viral pathogens.
Tissue distribution and visualization of internalized norovirus in leafy greens
Keeping with the aeronautical theme, Belgian broadcaster VRT reports a passenger on a Transavia flight smelt so bad that other passengers started fainting and vomiting after the flight took off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport,.
Staff on board the Transavia jet reportedly tried to quarantine him in a toilet before the pilot diverted the flight.
The Boeing 737 is said to have landed in the city of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, so the foul-smelling man could be removed from the flight.
A picture taken by one of the passengers claims to show medical personnel taking him from the plane to a bus.
Belgian passenger Piet van Haut described the stench of the man in question as “unbearable”.
He said: “It was like he hadn’t washed himself for several weeks.
“Several passengers got sick and had to puke.”
Transavia confirmed the emergency landing saying it was due to “medical reasons”.
It is not known why the man smelt so bad and what other medical issues he was suffering from.
CTV News reports Transport Canada is investigating two cases of cars in Kelowna, B.C. being struck with suspected human feces falling from the sky.
The first incident happened May 9 and covered Susan Allen’s car, with its sunroof open, both inside and out.
“I started crying (and) I’m like: ‘I’m covered in poo,’” Allen told CTV Vancouver on Thursday.
“(The) car was just inundated with poop. It was just falling from the sky. You could feel the drops hitting you. When I looked up there was nothing above but a plane flying.”
Three days later, a man found a similar mess on his car, which was parked in his driveway.
Transport Canada said it is investigating the alleged incidents.
“Transport Canada is collecting and reviewing information regarding the reported incidents of May 9 and May 12 and, as such, is not in a position to provide more details,” Daniel Savoie, spokesperson for Transport Canada, said in a statement.
The Kelowna International Airport said it has narrowed it down to one of three planes that were passing over that area at both times.
Several outbreaks of foodborne illness traced to leafy greens and culinary herbs have been hypothesized to involve cross-contamination during washing and processing. This study aimed to assess the redistribution of Salmonella Typhimurium LT2 during pilot-scale production of baby spinach and cilantro and redistribution of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during pilot-scale production of romaine lettuce.
Four inoculated surrogate: uninoculated product weight ratios (10:100, 5:100, 1:100, and 0.5:100) and three inoculation levels (103, 101, and 10−1 CFU/g) were used for the three commodities. For each of three trials per condition, 5-kg batches containing uninoculated product and spot-inoculated surrogate products at each ratio and inoculation level were washed for 90 s in a 3.6-m-long flume tank through which 890 L of sanitizer-free, filtered tap water was circulated. After washing and removing the inoculated surrogate products, washed product (∼23, 225-g samples per trial) was analyzed for presence or absence of Salmonella Typhimurium or E. coli O157:H7 by using the GeneQuence Assay.
For baby spinach, cilantro, and romaine lettuce, no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the percentage of positive samples were observed at the same inoculation level and inoculated: uninoculated weight ratio. For each pathogen product evaluated (triplicate trials), inoculation level had a significant impact on the percentage of positive samples after processing, with the percentage of positive samples decreasing, as the initial surrogate inoculation level decreased.
The weight ratio of contaminated: noncontaminated product plays an important role: positive samples ranged from 0% to 11.6% ± 2.05% and from 68.1% ± 33.6% to 100% among the four ratios at inoculation of 10−1 and 101 CFU/g, respectively.
To our knowledge, this study is the first to assess the redistribution of low levels of pathogens from incoming product to leafy greens during processing and should provide important data for microbial risk assessments and other types of food safety analyses related to fresh-cut leafy greens.
Transfer and redistribution of Salmonella typhimurium LT2 and Escherichia coli O157:H7 during pilot-scale processing of baby spinach, cilantro, and romaine lettuce
Journal of food Protection vol.81 no. 6 June 2018
HALEY S. SMOLINSKI,1 SIYI WANG,1 LIN REN,1 YUHUAN CHEN,2 BARBARA KOWALCYK,3 ELLEN THOMAS,3 JANE VAN DOREN,2 and ELLIOT T. RYSER1*
Surveys still suck, but the results of this one generally correlate to what we have found doing 20 years of on-farm food safety with fresh produce growers.
Outbreaks and crisis drive grower food safety concerns, prevention is a hard sell, but we’ve shown it can be done.
Understanding growers’ preferences regarding interventions to improve the microbiological safety of their produce could help to design more effective strategies for the adoption of such food safety measures by growers.
The objective of this survey study was to obtain insights for the design of interventions that could stimulate growers to increase the frequency of irrigation water sampling and water testing to reduce possible microbiological contamination of their fresh produce.
The results showed that price intervention, referring to making the intervention less costly by reducing the price via discounts, is the most effective strategy to change growers’ intentions to increase their frequency of irrigation water testing. Moreover, a sense of urgency affects their intentions to increase the frequency of irrigation water testing.
The findings of this survey support the hypothesis that, to date, safety is not perceived as a quality control issue under normal circumstances, but safety becomes an overriding attribute in a food crisis.
Understanding preferences for interventions to reduce microbiological contamination in Dutch vegetable production
June 2018, Journal of Food Protection vol. 81 no. 6
A. P. M. VAN ASSELDONK,1*L. MALAGUTI,2M. L. H. BREUKERS,1 and H. J. van der FELS-KLERX2,3
The microbiological safety of fresh produce is monitored almost exclusively by culture-based detection methods. However, bacterial foodborne pathogens are known to enter a viable-but-nonculturable (VBNC) state in response to environmental stresses such as chlorine, which is commonly used for fresh produce decontamination.
Here, complete VBNC induction of green fluorescent protein-tagged Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica serovar Thompson was achieved by exposure to 12 and 3 ppm chlorine, respectively. The pathogens were subjected to chlorine washing following incubation on spinach leaves. Culture data revealed that total viable L. monocytogenes and Salmonella Thompson populations became VBNC by 50 and 100 ppm chlorine, respectively, while enumeration by direct viable counting found that chlorine caused a <1-log reduction in viability. The pathogenicity of chlorine-induced VBNC L. monocytogenes and Salmonella Thompson was assessed by using Caenorhabditis elegans. Ingestion of VBNC pathogens by C. elegans resulted in a significant life span reduction (P = 0.0064 and P < 0.0001), and no significant difference between the life span reductions caused by the VBNC and culturable L. monocytogenes treatments was observed. L. monocytogenes was visualized beyond the nematode intestinal lumen, indicating resuscitation and cell invasion. These data emphasize the risk that VBNC food-borne pathogens could pose to public health should they continue to go undetected.
IMPORTANCE Many bacteria are known to enter a viable-but-nonculturable (VBNC) state in response to environmental stresses. VBNC cells cannot be detected by standard laboratory culture techniques, presenting a problem for the food industry, which uses these techniques to detect pathogen contaminants. This study found that chlorine, a sanitizer commonly used for fresh produce, induces a VBNC state in the foodborne pathogens Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica. It was also found that chlorine is ineffective at killing total populations of the pathogens. A life span reduction was observed in Caenorhabditis elegans that ingested these VBNC pathogens, with VBNC L. monocytogenes as infectious as its culturable counterpart. These data show that VBNC foodborne pathogens can both be generated and avoid detection by industrial practices while potentially retaining the ability to cause disease.
Viable-but-nonculturable listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica serovar Thompson induced by chlorine stress remain infectious
During July 21–August 8, 2017, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) was notified of 20 cases of cyclosporiasis among persons who dined at a Mediterranean-style restaurant chain (chain A) in the Houston area. On August 10, 2017, DSHS requested assistance from CDC to support ongoing investigations by the City of Houston Health Department, Harris County Public Health, Fort Bend County Health and Human Services, and Brazoria County Health Department. The objectives of this investigation were to determine the source of the illnesses in the Houston area and to generate hypotheses about the source of the national increase in cyclosporiasis in 2017.
Chain A has four locations in the Houston area and a central kitchen where many dishes are prepared. A case-control study was performed using a menu-specific questionnaire focusing on items containing fresh produce. A confirmed case was defined as laboratory-confirmed Cyclospora infection and clinically compatible illness in a person who ate at any location of chain A during May 28–July 15, 2017. A probable case was defined as diarrhea and at least one additional sign or symptom compatible with cyclosporiasis (e.g., anorexia, abdominal cramping, bloating, myalgia, fatigue, vomiting, or low-grade fever) in a person within 2 weeks after dining at chain A during May 28–July 15, 2017. Controls were identified as either dining companions of case-patients who had no illness or patrons who dined at the same chain A location within 2 days of a case-patient visit and who had no illness. For controls identified by the latter method, contact information was obtained using commercially available databases used by local health agencies in Texas. Three controls per case-patient were recruited.
A total of 22 case-patients (16 confirmed and six probable) and 66 controls were enrolled in the study. Case-patients had a median age of 52 years (range = 29–79 years); 50% were female. Analysis compared menu items consumed by case-patients and controls, followed by ingredient-level analysis. The following ingredients were identified as being significantly associated with illness: green onions (matched odds ratio = 11.3; 95% confidence interval = 2.55–104.68), tomatoes (5.5; 1.2–51.7), red onions (4.7; 1.3–21.0), and cabbage (4.0; 1.1–15.9). When analysis was limited to the 16 confirmed case-patients and their corresponding 48 controls, only green onions remained significantly associated with illness (17.6; 2.5–775.7). Restaurant invoices from chain A were collected for all items identified during the epidemiologic investigation, but efforts to trace any food item to its source were inconclusive. Although the current study identified potential foods associated with illness in Texas, investigators were not able to identify the illness source or confirm whether the patients within the chain A subcluster had consumed a product reported by other ill persons in the United States.
Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. Since 2013, the United States has experienced annual increases in the incidence of cyclosporiasis incidence during the summer months, with some illnesses linked to imported produce (1–3). Molecular subtyping of Cyclospora is not currently available; therefore, identification of an ingredient associated with a particular illness subcluster might provide information about a source contributing to other cyclosporiasis illnesses. Previous U.S. outbreaks of cyclosporiasis have been linked to fresh produce, such as prepackaged salad mix, raspberries, and cilantro (3,4). Identification of a vehicle for Cyclospora is complicated by the short shelf life of fresh produce as well as the use of potential vehicles such as garnishes or mixtures with other items that could also harbor the parasite. Ingredient-level analysis within restaurant clusters and subclusters therefore remains critical in Cyclospora outbreak investigations.
Notes from the field: Cyclosporiasis cases associated with dining at a Mediterranean-style restaurant chain- Texas 2017
1.jun.18 CDC
Amelia A. Keaton, MD1,2; Noemi Borsay Hall, PhD2,3; Rebecca J. Chancey, MD2,4; Vivienne Heines, MPH3; Venessa Cantu, MPH3; Varsha Vakil, MPH5; Stephen Long, MD5; Kirstin Short, MPH5; Elya Franciscus, MPH6; Natasha Wahab, MPH6; Aisha Haynie, MD6; Laura Gieraltowski, PhD2; Anne Straily, DVM4
Bull Durham captured it (below).
