Tag Archives: advisory

Increased salmonella activity in Toronto

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This showed up on a public list, although the authors may have wanted it private. Regardless, it’s out there, and shows the kinds of questions and leads public health types are constantly pursuing, in conjunction with the medical community.

Toronto Public Health reports as of Feb. 28, 2012, it has received reports of 114 cases of salmonellosis, compared to the previous 10-year average of 70 cases for the same period. This increased activity is affecting individuals across the city and related to several potential sources.

The known clusters of recent Salmonella infection include:
1) a large catered event in York Region on February 11 that resulted in transmission of S. typhimurium to numerous attendees who continue to report illness since that time;
2) an outbreak of a less common species of Salmonella (S. heidelberg) across the GTA. This is under investigation by Public Health Ontario;
3) an increase of S. enteriditis (the most common strain of Salmonella reported in Toronto) linked to recent travel to Cuba.

In addition, with a general increase in circulating Salmonella infection there is higher chance of person-to-person transmission.

TPH recommends:

• Consider salmonellosis in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with signs and symptoms of gastroenteritis.
• Infants, elderly and immunocompromised individuals are at higher risk of bacteremia. Extraintestinal focal infections (e.g., arthritis, meningitis, pneumonia) can occur in those with bacteremia.
• Remind ill patients of the potential for transmission to others.
• Emphasize the importance of proper hand hygiene and safe food handling practices.
• Public Health requires individuals infected with Salmonella who work in or attend high risk environments such as food premises and child care facilities to be excluded from these settings until symptom-free for 24 hours (or until cleared with two negative stool specimens if asymptomatic with poor hygiene practices).
 

Old timey: first UK salmonella-in-duck-eggs outbreak since 1949 sickens 81

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Health types in the U.K. have published the epidemiological results of an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium DT8 in 2010 that sickened 81 people in 2010.

The authors write in Epidemiology and Infection:

Descriptive epidemiological investigation found a strong association with infection and consumption of duck eggs. Duck eggs contaminated with S. Typhimurium DT8 were collected from a patient’s home and also at farms in the duck-egg supply chain. Although duck eggs form a small part of total UK eggs sales, there has been significant growth in sales in recent years.

This is the first known outbreak of salmonellosis linked to duck eggs in the UK since 1949 and highlighted the impact of a changing food source and market on the re-emergence of salmonellosis linked to duck eggs.

Control measures by the duck-egg industry should be improved along with a continued need to remind the public and commercial caterers of the potential high risks of contracting salmonellosis from duck eggs.

These consumer reminders, like the one published by the U.K. Food Standards Agency in Sept. 2010 — Consumers reminded to follow good hygiene practice when handling and preparing duck eggs – advising folks to cook food until it is “steaming hot all the way through” are cute. And completely void of any evidence they work. Not so good for a science-based agency.

Boil-water advisory in Socorro, New Mexico; bad example of clear and concise information

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I usually don’t write about boil-water advisories because they are unusually common and usually non-threatening. When people start getting sick, I get interested.

But I do have an interest in how boil-water advisories are communicated: Is the wording clear? Are the actions to be taken clearly stated? Are there graphics for those who can’t read? Is the advisory in multiple languages?

Socorro, New Mexico, home of the PhD pretty hair doctors and beauty salon (right), discovered E. coli in one of their four water wells and began distributing informational flyers. A local correspondent took a picture of the flyer and passed it along.