3 sick, 1 dead from Salmonella in Tahiti

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Three cases of salmonellosis are officially confirmed, in Taravao, in addition to the suspect case of a fourth person who died after having shown the symptoms of salmonella poisoning. 

In a statement released Thursday morning, the Ministry of Health said “three cases of salmonellosis confirmed and a suspected case, occurred in Taravao. “These infections were reported to the Bureau de veille sanitaire between 20 and 28 November. Above all, “one person has died,” says this information, while indicating that ” the main cause of death remains uncertain.”

This person died in the night of November 18 to 19, a few hours after eating an egg dish (Kai Fan). His wife suffered a salmonella infection following this meal. One of two other confirmed cases of salmonellosis also consumed a Kai Fan. These takeaway meals were all purchased in the same Taravao business.

Sometimes, ya gotta go to deliver the package on time: Delivery driver for Amazon caught on camera pooping on man’s driveway

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A homeowner in Sacramento County, California, is down in the dumps after an Amazon delivery contractor left a pile of feces in front of his house.

Nemy Bautista wasn’t home on Tuesday when the driver pooped in front of his house, but he saw the excrement evidence when he came home. Bautista then checked his surveillance cameras and noticed the driver squatting on the passenger side of the truck.

He tried to get to the bottom of this mess by contacting Amazon via this Facebook post: 

Bautista told local station KBET that the driver’s supervisor came out to investigate.

“He was in shock when we saw the size of it,” Bautista said. “He ended up scooping it up with a plastic bag, but didn’t want to take it with him ― it smelled really bad.”

Bautista told CBS Sacramento that he suspects “the garbage can will smell like shit for the next few days.”

The online retail giant also issued an official statement:

This does not reflect the high standards we have for delivery service providers. This individual is no longer delivering Amazon packages and we’re in direct communication with the customer.

The company gave Bautista a gift card to apologize for all the crap he had to deal with, but he told KTXL TV that his real concern was for the customers who had packages delivered by the driver after that person pooped.

Fancy food ain’t safe food: UK ‘excellent’ restaurant given one out of five food hygiene rating

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A Lincolnshire restaurant has been given a one out of five for its food hygiene rating.

When environmental services visited the restaurant on October 20 officials found major improvement was necessary.

The main concerns with Portuguese themed Nikita Bar Restaurant, Boston, was the management of food safety – where major improvement was necessary.

The report said the restaurant needed to improve the systems and checks in place that make sure the food sold is safe to eat and evidence the staff know about food safety.

The food safety officer may also have lacked confidence that the standards would be maintained in the future.

The restaurant was also told that improvement was necessary for hygienic food handling.

This can refer to anything from preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.

But it was rated as generally satisfactory for cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building.

The restaurant is popular on trip adviser as it has been rated as a five out of five.

One reviewer wrote: “Warm welcome and great food. Dish of the day, carafe of wine, olives, bread and coffee £20 for 2 of us. We will be going back.”

Another reviewer said: “I visit this restaurant frequently. The staff are friendly and the food is delicious and the price is pretty cheap I paid £5.50 for a francesinha which is a Portuguese dish and a pint. I am very satisfied and I highly recommend.”

And another added: “Great staff, good food, cold beer, I pop in her to eat when am passing and I am never disappointed.”

Nikita Bar and Restaurant has been approached for a comment.

54 sick: Salmonella from contact with dairy calves

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports an on-going outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg infections from contact with dairy calves:

  • Since the last update on August 2, 2017, eight more ill people have been reported from six states.
  • CDC, several states, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) are investigating a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant SalmonellaHeidelberg infections.
  • A total of 54 people infected with the outbreak strains of SalmonellaHeidelberg have been reported from 15 states.
    • Seventeen (35%) people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
    • Illnesses started on dates ranging from January 27, 2015 to October 15, 2017.
    • Eighteen (33%) people in this outbreak are children under the age of 5.
  • Epidemiologic and laboratory investigations linked ill people in this outbreak to contact with calves, including dairy calves.
    • In interviews, ill people answered questions about contact with animals and foods eaten in the week before becoming ill. Of the 54 people interviewed, 34 (63%) reported contact with dairy calves or other cattle. Some of the ill people interviewed reported that they became sick after their dairy calves became sick or died.
    • Ongoing surveillance in veterinary diagnostic laboratories showed that calves in several states continue to get sick with the outbreak strains of multidrug resistant Salmonella ‎
    • Information collected earlier in the outbreak indicated that most of the calves came from Wisconsin. Regulatory officials in several states are now tracing the origin of the calves that are linked to the newer illnesses.
    • Whole genome sequencing has identified multiple antimicrobial resistance genes in outbreak-associated isolates from 43 ill people, 87 isolates from cattle, and 11 isolates from animal environments.
    • These findings match results from standard antibiotic resistance testingmethods used by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory on clinical isolates from eight ill people in this outbreak.
    • All eight isolates from ill people were resistant to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ampicillin, cefoxitin, ceftriaxone, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline, and had reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Seven isolates were also resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Five were also resistant to nalidixic acid. Three were also resistant to chloramphenicol. All eight isolates tested were susceptible to azithromycin and meropenem.

 

Salmonella in French cheese

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During a routine check, the presence of Salmonella was found in the product Herbie Fenugreek, cheese block +/- 200 g with expiry date 24/01/2018 and batch number L14 319 UU: MM. No other product in the range is concerned. This product has been sold in different Delhaize stores in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 

In collaboration with the AFSCA, Kaasimport Jan Dupont nv. decided to withdraw the proceeds from the sale and to recall the products already sold.   Product Description: – Product Name: Block Herbie Fenugreek Cheese +/- 200 g – Brand: Herbie – Manufacturer: Het Hinkelspel – To consume until the 24/01/2018 – The lot number is on the back label, just above the bar code: L14 319 UU: MM – Weight: +/- 200 gr – Product packaging: transparent film with 2 labels – Sales period: from 16/11/2017 to 28/11/2017 – Approval number: BE CO 378 A EG – The variable EAN code starting with: 29537875 XXXXX  Customers are advised not to consume Herbie Fenugreek Cheese and return it to Delhaize Point of Sale. When returning the product, it will be refunded. 

Fonterra fined $183m over contamination scandal

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New Zealand’s Fonterra has been ordered to pay 105 million euros (NZ$183 million) in damages to French food giant Danone as a result of the Fonterra food safety failures of 2013.

Danone had sued Fonterra as a result of the whey protein concentrate contamination scandal in 2013, when Fonterra quarantined several batches over fears it was contaminated with clostridium bacteria. It later turned out to be a false alarm.

Danone launched a legal suit in New Zealand and arbitration proceedings in Singapore, seeking restoration for the costs of recalling the whey protein concentrate.

At the time, Fonterra said it expected any court action would show the Kiwi firm didn’t have any liability in the contract, and it recognised a contingent liability of just $14m over the recall.

In 2014, New Zealand’s Court of Appeal upheld an earlier decision that the Singapore arbitration proceedings should be the first avenue, as provided for in the contract, but refused to permanently stay the legal suit.

The result of the Singapore proceedings was released on Friday, and Danone says it “welcomes” the decision.

Neil Young, at home

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If the Tragically Hip were the house band for my laboratory back in Guelph, then Neil Young was the spirit.

Right now, he’s performing an acoustic set in his childhood hometown of Omemee, Ont. (that’s in Canada, near Peterborough).

In 1981 or 1982, my uni girlfriend and I went and saw Neil do a solo acoustic set at Maple Leaf Gardens.

I was for always amazed that a single performer could captivate an audience of 20,000 for two hours.

About 2004, I took Chapman to go see him, to show the young fella how to rock.

I’m sure Neil has his demons and missteps, but at 72-years-old, and on stage in Omemee, these are signs of a life fully lived.

I always told – and still tell – students, colleagues, whoever,  you got ideas, get them out there.

36 dead: FDA says beware the herb kratom

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a strong warning to consumers to stay away from the herbal supplement kratom, saying regulators are aware of 36 deaths linked to products containing the substance.

Laurie McGinley of The Washington Post writes consumers are increasingly using the supplement, which comes from a plant in Southeast Asia, for pain, anxiety and depression, as well as symptoms of opioid withdrawal. The herb also is used recreationally because it produces symptoms such as euphoria.  Proponents say it is a safe way to deal with chronic pain and other ailments, and some researchers are exploring its therapeutic potential, including helping people overcome addictions.

But in a statement, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that there is no “reliable evidence” to support the use of kratom as a treatment for opioid-use disorder, and that there are no other FDA-approved uses for kratom.

Rather, he said, evidence shows that the herb has similar effects to narcotics like opioids, “and carries similar risks of abuse, addiction and, in some cases, death.” He said that calls to U.S. poison control centers involving kratom increased tenfold between 2010 and 2015, and that the herb is associated with side effects including seizures, liver damage and withdrawal symptoms.

My daughter calls me flyslayer: I can’t stand flies, but are they a food service risk?

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For decades, various food safety-types have debated the role of flies in the transmission of disease in food service settings, and more importantly, the significance.

Now that we live in an old distinguished house in Brisbane, and in every other place we’ve lived close to downtown (CBD) we know screens are an afterthought.

And maybe I’m an OK cook, because every time I start slicing and dicing, the flies converge, if the windows are open.

So we got central air installed – Brisbane breezes be damned – and keep the windows closed, yet I still go about my daily slaughter of about 50 flies.

Researchers at Penn State Eberly College of Science have found house flies carry salmonella, E. coli and even bacteria, which can lead to stomach ulcers and fatal sepsis.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, says flies may have been overlooked by public health officials as a source of disease outbreaks.

The paper found that flies legs transferred most of the microbial organisms from one surface to another, suggesting even a brief step onto food could leave behind bacteria.

Flies in urban areas were found to carry more bacteria than rural flies, with the scientists suggesting to avoid city parks for picnics and, instead, eating food in more rural locations.

The study suggests flies pick up the bacteria from faeces and decaying organic matter, which they use to nurture their young.

”People had some notion that there were pathogens that were carried by flies, but had no idea of the extent to which this is true and the extent to which they are transferred.” said Dr Donald Bryant, Professor of Biotechnology at Penn State University.

“We believe that this may show a mechanism for pathogen transmission that has been overlooked by public health officials.”

Probably Norovirus: At least 35 sickened at Michigan restaurant

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Rachel Greco of the Lansing State Journal reports at least 35 people have reported getting sick after eating at downtown Grand Ledge restaurant The Log Jam in the last two weeks, according to public health officials.

The West Jefferson Street restaurant closed Monday, six days after the first eight illness complaints were reported to the health department on Nov. 22, said Abigail Lynch, a spokesperson for the Barry-Eaton County Health Department.

Those Log Jam customers reported eating there Nov. 19, she said.

Lynch said callers reported norovirus symptoms, which include diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting. She said health department staff suspect a norovirus outbreak, but are awaiting test results to confirm it.

The Nov. 22 reports did not prompt the restaurant to close or for the health department to issue a public statement about the suspected outbreak, Lynch said, because the health department didn’t believe there was “an ongoing threat to public health.”

Lynch said department staff visited the restaurant Nov. 22, and staff there cleaned the interior of the eatery with bleach, threw out any prepared food and emphasized hand washing practices with employees.

Since Nov. 22 at least 27 additional reports of illness have been made by Log Jam customers to the health department, Lynch said. Most of those people reported eating at the restaurant Nov. 25 and reports were still coming in, she said. 

“Based on that, when we left on (Nov. 22) we felt we had put proper interventions in place to prevent further illness,” Lynch said. “This just happened to be one of those instances where it wasn’t.”

Lynch said the restaurant was closed Nov. 27 for another cleaning that was supervised by health department staff, and re-opened the next day. She said all of the restaurant’s prepared foods were thrown out and employees were informed again about the importance of hand washing.

A person who answered the phone at The Log Jam Wednesday morning declined to comment on the suspected outbreak and referred all questions to the health department. 

A Nov. 27 post on The Log Jam’s Facebook page reads, “It seems that there has been an outbreak of a viral gastroenteritis in the community. We have consulted with the health department and they confirmed that this very contagious virus has made some people very ill in our town…Since our water heater went up in flames, and we had to close for repairs, we took full advantage of our down time to disinfect every square inch of our facility.”