UK woman critically ill with E.coli O55

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A young woman from Guildford has been left in a critical condition in hospital after she contracted E.coli O55.

Alexander Brock of Get Surrey writes the victim and her sister, whose family have asked us not to name, both fell ill within hours of each other on Saturday September 16.

Public Health England (PHE) confirmed it was investigating “a confirmed case of E.coli O55 in Surrey.”

The eldest of the two sisters, aged 22, recovered after a few days of having symptoms such as diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

However, the health of the younger sister, 19, quickly deteriorated and she was rushed to Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford a few days after becoming ill.

She then suffered kidney failure, which developed into hemolytic uremic syndrome.

This led to several of her organs failing, including her heart. The woman has been in critical condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London since September 27.

The strain has been confirmed as E.coli O55, which 31 people contracted in an outbreak in Dorset between July 2014 and November 2015.

In a statement, PHE added there had been other recorded E.coli cases in children in neighbouring areas which have been “identified as being potentially linked.”

 

30 sick: Salmonella linked to tuna

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Marissa Harshman of the Spokesman-Review writes Clark County Public Health officials in Washington state were among the first to identify a nationwide salmonella outbreak linked to tuna loins and tuna steaks.

Locally, the case began with five reports of illness to Clark County Public Health in late August. Since then, the outbreak has grown to 30 cases in seven states and led to a recall of a California-based company’s tuna products.

The outbreak includes six confirmed and two presumed cases in Clark County, said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County health officer.

The investigation is continuing at the national level by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The fact that little, old Clark County was able to be one of the first people to pick up on this ongoing outbreak really highlights the strengths of this system we’ve developed,” said Madison Riethman, an applied epidemiology fellow at Clark County Public Health, during a county health board meeting Wednesday.

And what did little old Clark County do to publicize the outbreak, go public to try and prevent others getting sick.

The first rule of public health is, as encapsulated by Riethman, make public health look good.

Local health officials first learned of a possible outbreak on Aug. 29, when local laboratories reported five cases of salmonella, a bacteria that causes illness with symptoms such as diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Typically, the department gets three to eight reports each month, Riethman said.

“The fact that we got five in one day was a big red flag,” she said.

Everyone’s got a camera: Shanghai edition

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A new smartphone application released by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration means food safety issues can now be reported by uploading images straight to the app.

The center for complaints and reports of the FDA introduced the software recently to make such an operation easier. In the application, users can report five kinds of food safety issues including expired foods, inedible objects in foods, smoking in restaurants, food providers without certificates and unwanted promotion of health foods during business meetings or sightseeing trips.

After installing and signing up for the application, users can file a complaint by simply entering the name of the food vendor, the vendor’s address, the kind of food safety issue and the description of the problem. The user can complete the first three steps by entering text, or by submitting a photo or a GPS coordinate. A special procedure is set up for anonymous complainers, and their information will only be seen by personnel designated by the FDA.

According to the FDA, the application takes full advantage of the Internet and enables citizens to report infringements of food safety laws immediately and right at the place where the violation occurs. The software can provide important evidence for supervisors.

 

Vets test for deadly cat virus in Queensland after multiple deaths

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My science writing career started with cats.

(The two black ones made it to Kasnas, the other one, Lucky, wasn’t so lucky)

My parents didn’t allow warm-blooded mammals in the house, just Salmonella-ridden turtles, so when my ex brought me 2 kittens from the vet clinic where she was a student, it still stands out as the nicest thing she ever did for me.

I wrote about cat behaviour, weekly, because I was fascinated and thought everyone else would be.

Maybe not, but I was editor-in-chief the next year, because of no bullshit and cats.

The ex wrote a book no one read except my former hockey team mates in which she stated the only thing I was good for was throwing off good-looking daughters.

Duh.

And people wonder why I have angst.

Calicivirus is when I got turned on to leaning.

A fourth-year virology class, we kids had to go do an independent project, and I chose Calicivirus.

Just woke me up to all the things that were available to learn, other than cats.

The Courier-Mail reports urgent testing is underway to determine the cause of death of a number of cats in south-east Queensland in the past month, with vets suspecting a particular strain of virus to be responsible.

In recent weeks there have been possibly 14 cases of Feline Calicivirus-Virulent Systemic Disease, or Virulent Calicivirus, reported in Queensland.Of those 14 cases – all but one have come from the Ipswich area, west of Brisbane.

Australian Small Animal Veterinarians President Dr Mark Kelman said laboratory testing was underway in Sydney.

“At this stage we’re not 100 per cent sure it’s this cat virus that’s going on. It’s still early days,” Dr Kelman said.

“It’s highly suspicious that it may be what we call Feline Calicivirus-Virulent Systemic Disease … it’s not common at all.

“If it is that it’s a variant of a fairly common virus which is the Feline Calicivirus but this particular strain causes more severe disease in cats and certainly can be fatal.”

Dr Kelman said he hoped to have a definitive answer within the next week.

Swollen legs a concerning symptom for cats

Three cats from the Ipswich area have died and others have been euthanised because of the severity of their symptoms, Dr Kelman said.

We’re all hosts on a viral planet.

Raw camel milk in US

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Whenever someone writes, “frozen in Kansas” I think, that could have been me.

Ice storms and stuff.

And being a professor.

Making lots of money, going with the flow, and checking my brain at the door – on the few days I showed up.

So I decided to support my wife – although I’ve been a bit of a dick about it for the last 6 years – and move to Australia, eventually ending my career.

Although I do have a new job with the least amount of responsibility possible.

I’m having my American Beauty moment (but not chasing after younger girls, quite happy, and she noted it’s been 12 years since we first met).

So when raw milk advocate David Gumpert writes about raw camel milk and how the U.S. Food and Drug is asking the federal court to allow it to seize more than $70,000 worth of raw camel milk, some of it frozen, in storage in Kansas, and there’s some government conspiracy, I cast aspersions.

The agency had warned the owner of a small Missouri farm, which accounts for the bulk of raw camel milk production in the U.S., — of course it is in Missouri — to refrain from shipping it outside that state. The owner had reportedly agreed to the FDA’s order.

Now, a number of media are reporting that the FDA is asking a federal court to allow it to seize raw camel milk from the farm, known as Hump-Back Dairys, along with that of a national distributor of camel milk, Desert Farms.

Waste of time. Move on.Keep moving on.

180 sick: It was the Salmonella in clam chowder served at Chincoteague Chili Chowder Cook Off

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The Division of Consolidated Laboratory has identified salmonella javiana in a sample of Crab Shack Clam Chowder obtained from an attendee of the Chincoteague Chili Chowder Cook Off.

The DCLS says the finding is consistent with the exposure results of the online attendee survey. Approximately 500 survey responses, from both ill and non-ill attendees, were recorded in 18 days.

Health officials are still assembling reports from Virginia and as many as nine other states where event attendees live. The online attendee survey tool has been closed.

The Accomack County Health Department has received 180 reports of illness so far. About half of those reported ill sought medical care, with 20% receiving Emergency Room care and 10% having been hospitalized for one or more nights. No deaths have been reported.

Jumped the shark: Food safety culture

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It’s a shame when one of your children jumps the shark.

Not my actual children, there are all unique and different, and I love their takes on life.

Ideas are not biological beings.

Food ​safety culture in a business is how everyone (owners, managers, employees) thinks and acts in their daily job to make sure that the food they make or serve is safe. It’s about having pride in producing safe food every time, recognising that a good quality product must be safe to eat. Food safety is your top priority.

A strong food safety cu​lture comes from people understanding the importance of making safe food and committing to doing whatever it takes, every time. It starts at the top but needs everyone’s support across the business.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) says it has developed some easy-to-use tools and resources to help businesses and regulators work together to improve food safety culture, through a 3-step process:

Step 1: Know where your business stands

Step 2: Do something to make a difference

Step 3: Follow through for a long-lasting impact

Food safety is not simple, and nothing is easy.

How does FSANZ know their tools are easy to use? Have they done surveys, personal interviews?

Unlikely.

It’s one of those catch phrases which means, be suspicious.

I’ve always told my daughters, anyone who says trust me is untrustworthy.

Food safety is like anything else, especially hockey: put in the hours, get it right.

Fancy food ain’t safe food: New York edition

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One of New York’s most expensive restaurants is in some trouble with the Food and Drug Administration over its fresh fish.

John Tozzi of Bloomberg writes that Masa, which earned three Michelin stars for its $595 tasting menu (before drinks and tax), received a warning letter from the FDA dated Oct. 16 alleging violations of federal rules that govern seafood imports. “Your fresh trevally and fresh Katsuwonus pelamis (Katsuo), also known as skipjack tuna or bonito,” the agency wrote in a letter published online this week, “have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health.”

“We take FDA regulations very seriously and, of course, food safety is always a priority. We are working closely with our purveyors in Japan to get this resolved quickly,” said Tina Clabbers, a representative for Masa, in an email.

While the the FDA doesn’t typically regulate individual restaurants, the agency has jurisdiction over seafood importers. Inspectors visited Masa on June 22, according to the letter, which redacted the name of the restaurant’s fish supplier.

The letter doesn’t specify the precise nature of the violation, and a spokesperson in the FDA’s New York district office was not available for comment.

Salmonella scare lands La Mojarra Loca in Vegas on Dirty Dining

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Darcy Spears of KTNV reports La Mojarra Loca on Maryland Parkway near Sahara is no stranger to Dirty Dining.  

Each time the location’s been on, it’s been just before Halloween.

And this time, inspectors were there for something truly scary–a customer who ate salmon and salad was diagnosed with Salmonella poisoning.  

The follow-up inspection resulted in a 50-demerit closure.
Inspectors documented “Unusual circumstances which might have contributed to contamination,” including food stored in the splash zone of the handsink and lots of improper handwashing.

Employees went from handling dirty dishes to clean without handwashing, scraped food off returned dishes without handwashing, and didn’t wash hands after handling raw meat.

Also, a food handler put raw bacon on a cutting board so it was touching ready-to-eat cheese.

Speaking of cutting boards, several at La Mojarra Loca were severely soiled.

Listeria triggers major recall of veggies across US and Canada

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A leading vegetable supplier in California, Mann Packing, voluntarily recalled products that might have been contaminated with Listeria.

The recall affects packaged produce at multiple supermarkets across the United States and Canada including Walmart, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Meijer, Albertson’s and Safeway.

“Mann Packing is issuing this recall out of an abundance of caution,” the company said in a statement, adding that it is cooperating with U.S. and Canadian health officials to recall the products.

No illnesses have been linked to the products, the company said. The contamination risk was picked up by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency through random sampling.

The affected items were listed as “best if used by” October 11 to October 20.

About 1,600 people become infected with listeria each year, and about 260 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.