50 sick in North Dublin Salmonella outbreak

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Lloyd Mudiwa of the Irish Medical Times reports a large outbreak of foodborne salmonellosis involving more than 50 cases of infection in North Dublin is being investigated by public health specialists, IMT reports.

The HSE was initially notified on May 18 of an outbreak of salmonellosis associated with consumption of food at a family party in Dublin some five days earlier. Foods had been provided by a food business in North Dublin. Over the weekend of May 13 and 14 the business had supplied food to multiple off-site parties in addition to on-site dining. The investigation identified illness among attendees at additional off-site parties.

An Outbreak Control Team was convened and chaired by the Department of Public Health (East) with representation from Environmental Health Service ((EHS) Dublin Specialist (Communicable Disease Unit) and Dublin, Fingal), the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), Public Health Laboratory, and the National Salmonella Shigella and Listeria Reference Laboratory.

A closure order was served on the food business on May 19 by the HSE EHS under Section 53 of the FSAI Act 1998. Alerts were issued to GPs and hospital emergency departments by the Department of Public Health (East).

“To date more than 50 cases of illness have been identified and 24 persons have tested positive for salmonella. Six people have been admitted to hospital.

Cyclosporiasis – France ex Mexico

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This case of cyclospora may have no relation to the Canadian outbreak; or may.

A 64-year-old French [female] with type 2 diabetes mellitus was referred to our department on [Mon 3 Jul 2017] because she was suffering from protracted diarrhea.

Symptoms began on [Sat 10 Jun 2017] as she was just returning from a touristic trip in Cancun (Quintana Roo State, Mexico) where she stayed from [Mon 29 May to Fri 9 Jun 2017] with her husband.

She acknowledged having moderate watery diarrhea with abdominal discomfort, bloating, transient vomiting, 5 kg weight [approx. 11.02 pounds] loss and fatigue. Empiric therapy with oral Metronidazole 500 mg 3 times a day for 7 days she received previously failed to improve her symptoms. Of note, a 1st microscopic stool examination failed to identify parasites and no enteropathogenic bacteria was found by culture on selective media.

Up to 3 extra stool specimens where sent to the laboratory of clinical parasitology in our hospital.

Oocysts of Cyclospora cayetanensis where evidenced by autofluorescence after Bailenger concentration technique.

‘I’m kind of tired after 28 years, here’s my resignation’ Michigan food supervisor forced to resign

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I get it.

Burdened with never-ending bureaucracy, who wouldn’t resign.

I did (KState said I resigned, but really, they fired my ass).

And followed a girl to Brisbane.

But the only thing wrong about my resignation was I never got any severance from Kansas State University, and still cringe every time I hear about the parachutes — golden or not — bureaucrats get upon departure.

I was dumb about that.

I was also hopelessly naive about my belief that universities were places of higher learning and that effort and achievement would be honored.

Nope

Cody Combs of WWMT reports a former employee of a West Michigan county health department once in charge of overseeing restaurant inspections is now coming under criticism after the I-Team learned the employee was forced to resign.

This comes as the Newschannel 3 I-Team uncovers how some say the restaurant inspector neglected to keep up with inspections, potentially putting the safety of many in and around West Michigan at risk.

The I-Team started asking questions about the health inspections after portions of a Van Buren/Cass District Health Department document were anonymously sent to Newschannel 3.

“Inspect the 40 restaurants which have not been inspected since 2015,” reads the document.

That rate of inspections falls far below state regulations, according to staffers at several West Michigan county health departments.

The I-Team then pored over Van Buren/Cass Health Department meeting minutes, and found a brief mention during a meeting in March of a resignation from a worker named Cary Hindley, now the former food service supervisor.

Over at the Van Buren/Cass Health Department, we asked Director Jeff Elliott about the inspections or lack thereof, and Elliott explained Hindley’s departure.

“He said, you know what Jeff, all the regulations we have to follow and everything, he said, I’m kind of tired after 28 years, here’s my resignation,” Elliott said.

But Elliott disagreed with the internal document saying 40 restaurants were last inspected in 2015.

“I don’t think that’s gospel,” he said.

Elliott says the files may need to be located.

Other staffers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say finding the documents, if they exist, may prove impossible.

At Wednesday’s Board of Health meeting, more concerns about the restaurant inspection discrepancies were voiced from board members, as well as other county health officials.

 

 

 

Dehydration and salt toxicity? Cows dying in Saskatchewan

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Ann Hui of The Globe and Mail reports that for decades, cattle farmers have sent their livestock to graze on the sprawling Shamrock pasture, about 80 kilometres south of Chaplin in southwest Saskatchewan. Shamrock is where Russ Coward, a fourth-generation cattle farmer, has for years raised nearly a quarter of his cattle. It’s the same place Mr. Coward’s father sent his cattle.

But some time between last Monday and Friday, the cows and calves at Shamrock began to die. It’s not known whether the deaths happened all at once or slowly over the course of the four days. But by the time the manager arrived on Friday afternoon, 200 of the approximately 680 cattle in a single field were dead.

The president of Shamrock Grazing Ltd., Glenn Straub, called Mr. Coward, who raced out to the field. He was met with a gruesome scene. “We seen a tragedy,” he said. “We simply seen a terrible sight.”

Other ranchers soon joined him, about 31 in total who have cows and calves there. “We all had the same feelings – how did this happen? How did this happen?”

Since Friday, provincial authorities as well as the local RCMP have been trying to piece together the mystery. The cause is still being determined, but the prevailing theory is dehydration and salt toxicity.

The area has been subject to drought in recent weeks, said Saskatchewan’s chief veterinary officer, Betty Althouse. Officials believe this may have led to evaporation at the water source, resulting in higher concentrations of salt in the water.

“An analogy would be someone shipwrecked in the ocean,” Dr. Althouse told reporters this week. “They’re thirsty, they’re craving water, so they’re going to drink the water. But ultimately the salt water will kill them.”

Many of the dead cows and calves were found clustered around one “dugout” in particular – the pools of collected rain and runoff where they drink. Investigators at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon who were called in to assist have collected samples from the dugouts. Results are expected some time this week.

CDC updates backyard flock Salmonella outbreak numbers

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Wow. Salmonella in backyard flocks is no joke. CDC reports that hundreds of people have become ill this year in 10 outbreaks. Kissing chickens is a bad idea.

Since the last update on June 1, 2017, 418 more ill people have been reported. The most recent illness began on June 20, 2017.

This is a Salmonella factory

CDC, multiple states, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) are investigating 10 separate multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections in people who had contact with live poultry in backyard flocks.

The outbreak strains of Salmonella have infected a reported 790 people in 48 states and the District of Columbia.Illnesses started on dates ranging from January 4, 2017 to June 20, 2017.

Of 580 people with available information, 174 ill people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Sensible Swedes: Court rules coop grocery chain ‘misled’ consumers by claiming organic food safer, healthier

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Kavin Senapathy of the Genetic Literacy Project writes the makers of the viral 2015 “Organic Effect” video, which claimed that switching to an all organic diet can eliminate pesticides from the body, are no longer allowed to promote the video or its claims, ruled the Swedish Patent and Market Court on July 3rd following three days of hearings in mid-May.

The Coop chain of Swedish grocery stores must not use the video or make unsubstantiated claims about organic and conventional food or pay a fine of one million Swedish Krona (about $120,000 USD). The Swedish Crop Protection Association (“Svenskt Växtskydd”), a trade association of nine Swedish crop protection companies, filed the lawsuit [in 2016], citing misleading and inaccurate advertisement.

The “Organic Effect” video … totally [omits] the crucial fact that organic farming does use pesticides, albeit different than the ones used in conventional agriculture. Even though the pesticides used in organic farming tend to be naturally derived, whether a substance is synthetic or natural in origin, in and of itself, has no bearing on its toxicity or environmental impact.

Further, as Switzerland-based biologist Iida Ruishalme pointed out at her Thoughtscapism blog, the video left out information that conflicted with the video’s shaky pro-organic assertions.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis.

See the crap below.

Drug-related outbreak now affecting food events: Hepatitis A outbreak causes fifth death in San Diego

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FOX 5 reports a hepatitis A outbreak in the San Diego area has claimed the life of a fifth person, county health officials reported Wednesday.

Vaccinations to help prevent Hepatitis A and B, where given by HEP Team to those interested, free of cost. Second day of the 26th Annual Sunset Junction Street Fair with food, games rides and health information for the hundred attending on Sunday. (Photo by Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The outbreak now totals 228 cases and required the hospitalization of 161 of those sickened, according to the county Health and Human Services Agency. So far, the disease has mostly affected the homeless population and/or users of illegal drugs, with seven out of every 10 cases affecting those populations. One of every five people sickened with hepatitis A also has hepatitis C.

But according to a couple of barfblog.com types, the outbreak has led to the cancellation of food events in September.

Public health investigators have not identified any common food, drink or drug source as a contributing cause to this outbreak, officials said. Hepatitis A is most commonly spread via contaminated food or water, sexual contact or sharing drug paraphernalia.

“It is imperative that anyone at risk for hepatitis A get vaccinated,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer. “We cannot stress this enough — get vaccinated and make sure you wash your hands after going to the bathroom.”

“Lives are at risk,” Wooten said. “Protect yourself, your family and the community.”

County health officials have been working with homeless services providers, community health clinics, faith-based organizations, substance abuse treatment providers, hospital emergency departments, jails and probation facilities to conduct vaccination clinics for people who are at risk of catching the illness. It can take up to nearly two months after exposure to develop symptoms, but the disease can be prevented if people get immunized within two weeks of exposure, the HHSA said.

Have you ever vomited so violently your bladder exploded? This UK woman did, and blames dodgy seafood

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Lewis Pennock of the Mirror reports a 46-year-old woman vomited so violently her bladder exploded in a horrific case of food poisoning.

The woman, who had eaten dodgy seafood, was rushed to hospital after spending all night being sick until her condition deteriorated to the point her bladder ruptured.

A serving of gone-off seafood is thought to have left the woman with severe food poisoning, before her symptoms spiralled.

Surgeons who inspected the damage found a 3cm tear in the organ, a report in the British Medical Journal said, which is an incredibly rare side effect of vomiting.

The BMJ Case Report, authored by four medics from West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said the extreme injury was a “rare” reaction.

The unnamed woman, thought to be from Watford, had been eating dinner in a restaurant when she fell ill with food poisoning and began to vomit.

She went home but began to feel worse – and the vomiting became so intense her bladder was ruptured.

She decided to seek medical attention when the frequency and intensity of the vomiting caused her to bleed heavily from her vagina, experts said.

The woman, who had no history of a weakened bladder, was unable to go to the toilet despite having a full bladder.

The BMJ report said: “Spontaneous bladder rupture is a rare entity, with very few reports in the literature.”

It added: “This unusual case is important, as it has demonstrated that even normal, healthy bladders may rupture during episodes of high intra-abdominal pressure.”

Hepatitis E: Raw pork is main cause of infection in EU

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Consumption of raw or undercooked pork meat and liver is the most common cause of hepatitis E infection in the EU, said the European Food Safety Authority.

More than 21,000 cases of hepatitis E infections have been reported in humans over the last 10 years, with an overall 10-fold increase in this period.

Rosina Girones, chair of EFSA’s working group on hepatitis E, said: “Even if it is not as widespread as other foodborne diseases, hepatitis E is a growing concern in the EU. In the past, people thought the main source of infection was drinking contaminated water while travelling outside the EU. But now we know the main source of transmission of the disease in Europe is food.”

Domestic pigs are the main carriers of hepatitis E in the EU. Wild boars can also carry the virus, but meat from these animals is less commonly consumed.

Experts from EFSA’s Panel on Biological Hazards recommend that Member States increase awareness of public health risks associated with raw and undercooked pork meat and advise consumers to cook pork meat thoroughly. They also recommend the development of suitable methods for detecting hepatitis E in food.

This scientific advice builds on a previous scientific opinion on the occurrence and control of foodborne viruses published in 2011.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has today also published a report on hepatitis E in humans which assesses testing, diagnosis and monitoring methods and reviews available epidemiological data.

Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV).

Most people who contract hepatitis E display no or mild symptoms. However, in some cases especially for those with liver damage or patients with a weak immune system, it can lead to liver failure – which can be fatal.