Seek and ye shall find: Shiga-toxin producing E. coli sources of most USDA outbreaks

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) works closely with federal, state, and local public health partners to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks associated with its regulated products.

To provide insight into outbreaks associated with meat and poultry, outbreaks reported to FSIS during fiscal years 2007 through 2012 were evaluated.

Outbreaks were classified according to the strength of evidence linking them to an FSIS-regulated product and by their epidemiological, etiological, and vehicle characteristics. Differences in outbreak characteristics between the period 2007 through 2009 and the period 2010 through 2012 were assessed using a chi-square test or Mann-Whitney U test.

Of the 163 reported outbreaks eligible for analysis, 89 (55%) were identified as possibly linked to FSIS-regulated products and 74 (45%) were definitively linked to FSIS-regulated products. Overall, these outbreaks were associated with 4,132 illnesses, 772 hospitalizations, and 19 deaths.

Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli was associated with the greatest proportion of reported outbreaks (55%), followed by Salmonella enterica (34%) and Listeria monocytogenes (7%). Meat and poultry products commercially sold as raw were linked to 125 (77%) outbreaks, and of these, 105 (80%) involved beef. Over the study period, the number of reported outbreaks definitively linked to FSIS-regulated products (P = 0.03) declined, while the proportion of culture-confirmed cases (P = 0.0001) increased.

Our findings provide insight into the characteristics of outbreaks associated with meat and poultry products.

Foodborne outbreaks reported to the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service, fiscal years 2007 through 2012

Journal of Food Protection, Number 3, March 2016, Pages 442-447, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-15-376

Robertson, A. Green, L. Allen, T. Ihry, P. White, W. S. Chen, A. Douris, and J. Levine

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2016/00000079/00000003/art00011

It’s expensive to barf

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Objectives

To estimate the annual cost to patients, the health service and society of infectious intestinal disease (IID) from Campylobacter, norovirus and rotavirus.

Design

Secondary data analysis.

Setting

The United Kingdom population, 2008–9.

Main outcome measures

Cases and frequency of health services usage due to these three pathogens; associated healthcare costs; direct, out-of-pocket expenses; indirect costs to patients and caregivers.

Results

The median estimated costs to patients and the health service at 2008–9 prices were: Campylobacter £50 million (95% CI: £33m–£75m), norovirus £81 million (95% CI: £63m–£106m), rotavirus £25m (95% CI: £18m–£35m). The costs per case were approximately £30 for norovirus and rotavirus, and £85 for Campylobacter. This was mostly borne by patients and caregivers through lost income or out-of-pocket expenditure. The cost of Campylobacter-related Guillain-Barré syndrome hospitalisation was £1.26 million (95% CI: £0.4m–£4.2m).

Conclusions

Norovirus causes greater economic burden than Campylobacter and rotavirus combined. Efforts to control IID must prioritise norovirus. For Campylobacter, estimated costs should be considered in the context of expenditure to control this pathogen in agriculture, food production and retail. Our estimates, prior to routine rotavirus immunisation in the UK, provide a baseline vaccine cost-effectiveness analyses.

Economic cost of Campylobacter, Norovirus and Rotavirus disease in the United Kingdom

PLoS ONE 11(2): e0138526. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138526

Clarence C Tam and Sarah J O’Brien

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0138526

Colorado preschools upset over state’s new chicken ban

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Boulder County preschools and child care centers that keep chickens are protesting a new state rule that bans live chickens, ducks and other poultry.

At Niwot’s Shepherd Valley Waldorf, the eggmobile — a mobile coop that houses about 100 chickens — is now on a nearby property owned by parents and the chicken lessons are on hold.

“In preschool and kindergarten, they’re learning through experiences,” said Ruth Godberfforde, Shepherd Valley’s outreach and admissions director. “Taking care of chickens is a wonderful, purposeful activity. We want to keep that connection with nature and animals.”

An online petition to repeal the new rule has garnered more than 2,000 signatures. The campaign also is supported by Temple Grandin, a well known Colorado State University agriculture professor.

The state regulations, which went into effect Jan. 14, ban licensed child care centers from keeping live poultry on site or bringing them into classrooms. Live birds are still allowed in classrooms where children are older than 5.

The ban is designed to protect young children from salmonella, a bacteria that’s often carried by poultry and causes diarrhea, vomiting and fever, according to state health department officials.

Young children are considered especially at risk because their immune systems are still developing, making it more likely they’ll need to be hospitalized. Plus, young children often put their fingers and other objects in their mouths. increasing the likelihood that they’ll get sick.

Colorado routinely has one or more outbreaks each year of salmonella that are associated with live poultry, said Therese Pilonetti, unit manager for the state health department’s Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability.

In a typical outbreak associated with live poultry, young children make up half of all cases, she said.

Opponents to the ban say the state doesn’t have any evidence linking a salmonella outbreak in Colorado to chickens at a child care facility. Instead, they say, any risks are mitigated by good health practices like washing hands after being around the birds.

“We’ve had animals in different capacities over the last 20 years,” Shepherd Valley’s Godberfforde said. “We follow all the health and safety guidelines and have never had any issues.”

Danish retailer pulling campy chicken off grocery shelves

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Metroxpress reports that Danish food brand Løgismose will be pulling a batch of chicken infected with Campylobacter off grocery shelves.

Dangerous levels of the pathogen have been detected in chicken labelled ‘Princip Kylling’ and ‘Løgismose Kylling’ with an expiry date of 22 February 2016. Packets labelled ‘Løgismose Kyllingelår og Kyllingebryst’ and stamped with an expiry date of 23 February 2016 have also been contaminated. The chicken is being sold at Netto and other supermarkets.

Steen Olsen, the chief operating officer at Løgismose, said that while the situation is regrettable, it unfortunately happens sometimes as Løgismose‘s chickens are all free-range.

“Unfortunately, this is what happens sometimes. In contrast to other brands, our chickens are let out in the open. This means that they sometimes eat insects that are to blame for the campylobacter bacteria,” he said.

Steaming hot: Campylobacter reduction in UK

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Still no mention of thermometers which makes this Agency not so-science based.

The Food Standards Agency reports results for the second quarter of testing, from October to December 2015, continue to show a decrease in the number of birds with the highest level of contamination from the same months last year. These most heavily contaminated birds, carrying more than 1,000 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g), are the focus of the current target agreed by industry, which is equivalent to no more than 7% of chickens at retail having the highest levels of contamination. Research has shown that reducing the proportion of birds in this category will have the biggest positive impact on public health.

The latest data show 11% of chickens tested positive for the highest level of contamination, down from 19% in October to December 2014. Campylobacter was present on 59% of chicken samples, down from 74% in the same months of the previous year.

In this second quarter of the FSA’s second survey, 966 samples of fresh whole chilled UK-produced chickens and packaging have been tested. The chickens were bought from large UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers. The survey commenced sampling in July 2015.

The data continue to show an improvement from the previous year. Interventions, including improved biosecurity, SonoSteam, and the trimming of neck skins, introduced by some retailers to reduce levels of campylobacter, may be helping to deliver the improved results. The trimming of the neck skin, the most highly contaminated skin area, means chickens are carrying less campylobacter. The results of this intervention, while making chickens safer, mean comparisons to the first year’s survey may potentially be more difficult in future quarters as most samples from the previous year will have analysed more neck skin. The FSA will review the impact of this successful intervention to ensure the survey results remain robust.

The FSA has been testing chickens for campylobacter since February 2014 and publishing the results as part of its campaign to bring together the whole chicken supply chain to tackle the problem. Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK, making an estimated 280,000 people ill every year.

The FSA is pressing the industry to play its part in reducing the levels of campylobacter contamination at each production stage to as low a level as possible before raw chicken reaches the consumer. Chicken is safe as long as consumers follow good kitchen practice:

Cover and chill raw chicken: Cover raw chicken and store on the bottom shelf of the fridge so juices cannot drip on to other foods and contaminate them with food poisoning bacteria such as Campylobacter.

Don’t wash raw chicken: Cooking will kill any bacteria present, including Campylobacter, while washing chicken can spread germs by splashing.

Wash hands and used utensils: Thoroughly wash and clean all utensils, chopping boards and surfaces used to prepare raw chicken. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, after handling raw chicken. This helps stop the spread of Campylobacter by avoiding cross contamination.

Cook chicken thoroughly: Make sure chicken is steaming hot all the way through before serving. Cut in to the thickest part of the meat and check that it is steaming hot with no pink meat and that the juices run clear.

Year 2 of a UK-wide survey of campylobacter contamination on fresh chickens at retail (July 2015 to July 2016)

This 12-month survey investigates the prevalence and levels of campylobacter contamination on fresh whole chilled chickens and their packaging. The survey aims to examine more than 4,000 samples of whole chickens bought from UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers. The two sets of results from quarter 1 and 2 (sampling period July to December 2015) are available.

One goes up, one goes down: Swiss surveillance

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Clinical isolates of Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. are notifiable in Switzerland. In 1995, Campylobacter replaced Salmonella as the most frequently reported foodborne pathogen. We analysed notification data (1988–2013) for these two bacterial, gastrointestinal pathogens of public health importance in Switzerland.

Notification rates were calculated using data for the average resident population. Between 1988 and 2013, notified campylobacteriosis cases doubled from 3,127 to 7,499, while Salmonella case notifications decreased, from 4,291 to 1,267. Case notifications for both pathogens peaked during summer months. Campylobacter infections showed a distinct winter peak, particularly in the 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 winter seasons. Campylobacter case notifications showed more frequent infection in males than females in all but 20–24 year-olds. Among reported cases, patients’ average age increased for campylobacteriosis but not for salmonellosis.

The inverse trends observed in case notifications for the two pathogens indicate an increase in campylobacteriosis cases. It appears unlikely that changes in patients’ health-seeking or physicians’ testing behaviour would affect Campylobacter and Salmonella case notifications differently. The implementation of legal microbiological criteria for foodstuff was likely an effective means of controlling human salmonellosis. Such criteria should be decreed for Campylobacter, creating incentives for producers to lower Campylobacter prevalence in poultry.

Inverse trends of Campylobacter and Salmonella in Swiss surveillance data, 1988–2013

Eurosurveillance, Volume 21, Issue 6, 11 February 2016

C Schmutz, D Mäusezahl, M Jost, A Baumgartner, M Mäusezahl-Feuz

http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=21375

50% of chicken breast Campy positive, irrigation water source of dangerous E. coli: FoodNet Canada 2014 short report

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Douglas Powell

FoodNet Canada tracks illnesses of the gut, commonly known as food poisoning, in Canadians, and traces them back to their sources, such as food, water and animals. These data are analyzed to help determine which sources are causing the most illness among Canadians and help us track illnesses and their causes over time.

In the 2014 surveillance year, FoodNet Canada was active in three sites (partially or throughout the entire year) in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. In each location, or “sentinel site,” enhanced human disease surveillance is performed in parallel with active surveillance for specific bacteria, viruses and parasites in the possible sources to which the ill may have been exposed.

The purpose of this report is to present the preliminary findings from the 2014 surveillance year in the sentinel sites. This report will be followed by a comprehensive annual report which will include more extensive analyses of temporal trends and subtyping information for an integrated perspective on enteric disease from exposure to illness.

With the expansion to three sites in 2014, FoodNet Canada is able to provide more valuable information on enteric disease in Canada. This information on enteric disease continues to be essential to the development of robust food and water safety policies in Canada.

In 2014, Campylobacterand Salmonella remained the most common causes of human enteric illness in the sentinel sites.
Campylobacterwas the most prevalent pathogen found on skinless chicken breast in all sites with close to one-half of all samples testing positive. Across all three sites,Salmonella is the most commonly found pathogen in chicken nuggets, with more than one-quarter of all samples testing positive. Salmonella prevalence on skinless chicken breast ranged across the sites from 15% – 26%. In ground beef, VTEC remains at a low prevalence. Pork chops appear to contain the pathogens of interest (Campylobacter,Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes) at relatively low levels.
Fresh-cut fruit sampling showed that these products are rarely positive for the parasites, viruses and bacteria tested.
On farm, Salmonellawas commonly found in broiler chickens in all sites. Salmonella was also found in turkey in the BC site, but at a lower prevalence than in the broiler chickens. In turkey in the BC site, Campylobacter was again the most common pathogen found in 2014, as in 2013. Campylobacter was also commonly found in beef and dairy manure samples in the ON site, as in previous years. Campylobacter prevalence in broiler chickens was variable across the sites, ranging from 8.7% – 22%.
VTEC was found in about one quarter of irrigation water samples in the BC and AB sites.
Results from the 2014 FoodNet Canada sampling year have demonstrated that retail meat products, particularly chicken products, remain an important source of human enteric pathogens. Some of this contamination is likely due to high levels on farm and other points along the farm to store continuum. Fresh-cut fruit does not appear to be an important source of enteric disease for Canadians, while irrigation water has the potential to be a source of VTEC in particular. Continued monitoring of human cases and potential sources in the sentinel sites is important to help further understand enteric disease in Canada and detect emerging trends. This information will help protect Canadians and help to develop future public health policy.

To obtain a copy of the full report, please contact: phac-FoodNet.Canada-aspc@phac-aspc.gc.ca

Why can’t it be posted on the Internet?

Watch the chickens; predict the campy

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Ben Chapman

When I had campylobacteriosis I didn’t want to move much for fear of unleashing what was in my bowels. According to Yahoo News, chickens infected with campy also move less.

Using cameras to track how the birds move around can predict which flocks are at risk of being infected, according to research by Oxford University.

Lead author of the study Dr Frances Colles, from Oxford University’s Department of Zoology, said: “Humans consume nearly 60 billion chickens a year, more than any other animal.

“At the same time, there is a worldwide epidemic of human gastroenteric disease caused by campylobacter.

“It is estimated that up to four fifths of this disease originates from contaminated chicken meat.”

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, showed campylobacter-positive birds had less movement and different behaviour to those without the bacteria.

Professor Marian Dawkins, Professor of Animal Behaviour at Oxford University, said: “The findings are compatible with the growing evidence that campylobacter may be detrimental to chickens’ health, rather than simply being harmless gut bacteria.

“Use of this optical flow information has the potential to make a major impact on the management of commercial chicken flocks, for the benefit of producers, consumers and the birds themselves.”

Researchers collected data for 31 commercial broiler flocks and tested for the presence of campylobacter at different ages.

Campylobacter in turkeys – Italian edition

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Douglas Powell

In this retrospective study, typing ability, discriminatory power, and concordance between typing results obtained on 123 Campylobacter jejuni turkey isolates, collected in 1998, within 14 different farms, applying multilocus sequence typing (MLST), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), antibiotic resistance profile, and virulence gene pattern, were assessed and compared.

Overall, 33 sequence types, 28 pulsotypes, 10 resistotypes, and 5 pathotypes were identified. MLST and PFGE showed the better discriminatory ability (i.e., Simpson’s diversity index >0.90) as well as unidirectional (i.e., Wallace and adjusted Wallace coefficients >0.86) and bidirectional (i.e., adjusted Rand coefficient >0.60) concordance.

Moreover, both methods showed a good unidirectional and bidirectional concordance with the resistotype. On the contrary, the congruence of both genotyping methods and resistotype with the pathotype seemed due to chance alone. A clonal relationship was identified among 66.7% of the isolates. Furthermore, 59.7% of the investigated isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobials and 92% to tetracycline.

All the isolates harbored cadF and pldA genes, whereas a flaA gene product and a cdtB gene product were amplified from 85.4% and 79.7% of the isolates, respectively, using the primers designed by Bang et al. (2003).

The results of this study clarify the level of genetic diversity among the C. jejuni originating from turkeys. MLST level of correlation with PFGE, resistotype, and pathotype is assessed. This result supports the selection of type and number of typing methods to use in epidemiological studies. Finally, the identification of clonal complexes (i.e., groups of profiles differing by no more than one gene from at least one other profile of the group using the entire Campylobacter MLST database) shared between turkey and human isolates suggests that turkeys could be a possible source of Campylobacter infection.

Typing of Campylobacter jejuni isolated from turkey by genotypic methods, antimicrobial susceptibility, and virulence gene patterns: a retrospective study

Gerardo Manfreda, Antonio Parisi, Alessandra De Cesare, Domenico Mion, Silvia Piva, and Renato G. Zanoni

Foodborne Pathogens and Disease

doi:10.1089/fpd.2015.2048.

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/fpd.2015.2048

Lower campy limits: NZ govt insists poultry safety system is robust

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Douglas Powell

Public health researcher Michael Baker said the illness was an epidemic here but it would be easy to fix.

The University of Otago professor wants to see a lower allowable limit for Campylobacter contamination on poultry. He also wants data to be published showing which companies have the best and worst rates of contamination and better warning labels on packaging.

Prof Baker said that would lower the high rates of infection in New Zealand.

But a government spokesman claimed the current food safety system was robust, and did protect people from hazards like campylobacter.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) deputy director-general Scott Gallagher said the ministry was not considering any further measures.

Last year about 6,800 people got sick with campylobacter, with poultry to blame in half those cases, official figures showed.

But Prof Baker believed the number was much higher. More than 30,000 people each year get ill from eating chicken, he said.

“Our current campylobacter epidemic from fresh poultry is the biggest food safety problem in New Zealand.”

The Poultry Industry Association is backing Prof Baker’s calls for changes to the way chicken is prepared for sale, and a spokesman said the industry was working hard to lower the rates of contamination and infection.

Lowering the regulatory limit for campylobacter on fresh poultry was a good idea, the association’s executive director Michael Brooks said, and the association has proposed a new limit to MPI.

However, Mr Brooks said he did not support Prof Baker’s call for naming companies that have the best and worst rates of contamination.

But Mr Brooks said those measures only worked if there were also good food safety practices in people’s homes, such as careful preparation and proper cooking.

Caterer and chef Ruth Pretty recommended using a thermometer to guage the correct cooking temperature of the poultry.

“People worry, they don’t want to overcook it but they… (worry they’ve undercooked it) and they do that thing, you take it out of the oven or off the BBQ and you think, ‘is it cooked, isn’t it cooked, are the juices running clear’ and all that,” Ms Pretty said.

“But if you have a thermometer – you don’t have to have a fancy thermometer, it (can be) any thermometer – that you can insert into the cooked product.”

“Once you get (into) a system like that – which is how all chefs actually work – you’ll be fine, you’re always going to have your chicken cooked.”

barfblog

safe food from farm to fork

Tag Archives: Campylobacter