Tag Archives: Death

5 deaths now under review in Ontario listeria probe

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Where is the unintentionally funny and still, inexplicably, Minister of Agriculture in Canada, Gerry-death-by-a-1,000-cold-cuts-and-isn’t-my-moustache-awesome Ritz as the latest listeria outbreak unfolds in Canada. He was front and center last time. How about the Canadian Food Inspection Agency? What about the Public Health Agency of Canada or Health Canada?

The Public Health Agency of Canada could not immediately say whether any listeriosis cases in other jurisdictions are under investigation for a link to Siena meats.

Can’t say or won’t say? It’s OK, you can tell me, I’m a doctor.

Canwest News Service reports that the Canadian province of Ontario is left to poke around the latest listeria mess and will now be investigating five listeria deaths for





connections to Siena Meats.

Spokesman Andrew Morrison said the deaths are not linked to two previously recalled meat products from Siena Foods Ltd. which were matched, through a genetic fingerprint, to two non-fatal listeriosis cases in the province, adding,

“It’s important to note that those new products they recalled have a different genetic fingerprint than the first two. Regarding these newly recalled products, Ontario’s investigation is underway to determine any linkages to that.”

A string of reviews into the Maple Leaf listeriosis outbreak showed major gaps in the oversight of Canada’s food system and co-ordination problems with public health officials, including a report by independent investigatory Sheila Weatherill.

In her final report released last July, Weatherill — appointed by the federal government — zeroed in on a “vacuum in senior leadership” among government officials at the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that caused “confusion and weak decision-making.”

She also called on PHAC to take the communications lead during foodborne illness outbreaks.

Which is why it is notable the apparently poorly named Public Health Agency of Canada has once again zoned out during an outbreak.

Quebec cheesemakers complain about inspection, want taxpayers to pay for it

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Being married to someone who teaches French can be useful when I run across a story that has listeria and fromage in it, but can’t make out anything else. Amy thought it was of interest so assigned it to her translation class.

In fall 2008, there was a couple of outbreaks of listeria in cheese in Quebec that led to 38 hospitalizations, of which 13 were pregnant and gave birth prematurely. Two adults died and there were 13 perinatal deaths.?

The Quebec government cracked down, especially on makers of cheese from raw milk.

Last week, Le Soleil reported the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) is ready to take on the costs of analysis of all artisanal cheeses for one more year in order to ensure they contain no pathogens.

The screening and prevention project was put in place for one year in October 2008 at the end of the listeria crisis. Every month, MAPAQ inspectors visited cheesemakers in order to detect the Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphyloccocus aureus. The goal is to reassure consumers of the quality of Québécois cheeses and to guide cheesemakers towards self-testing. The bill was estimated at $1 million.

The artisanal cheesemakers have denounced the omnipresence of inspectors in their premises since the beginning of the listeria crisis, judging that inspectors don’t know their reality and are proving to be excessively zealous.

Prolactal cheese with listeria kills seven, sickens dozens in Austria

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Twelve people have been hospitalised with listeria infections, nine of them having become ill after eating deadly Quargel cheese produced by Styrian firm Prolactal GmbH.

The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) also reported today that a 57-year-old man became the seventh person to die from eating the tainted cheese. The previously known deaths — four Austrians and two Germans –occurred in 2009.

AGES said that all infections occurred before Prolactal’s tainted cheese was taken off supermarket shelves on January 23.

Health authorities have struggled to link the listeriosis deaths to Prolactal’s cheese, because the cases occurred only sporadically and the disease has a long incubation period.

A Prolactal spokesman said,

"A comprehensive investigation that will determine the cause of the contamination is our highest priority."

The firm said it had received more than 500 calls as of Wednesday last week on the hotline it set up for concerned consumers on 0800-201080.

The relatives of the six people who died are planning to sue Prolactal.

According to a Eurosurveillance report earlier in Feb., approximately 16 tons of Quargel per week are produced by the Austrian manufacturer. Fifty-three per cent of the product is exported to the German market and small amounts to the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. This cheese is made of curdled milk, which ripens after addition of starter cultures for one day at 28°C, and after being sprayed with Brevibacterium linens for another two days at 14°C. The shelf life after packing and marketing is two months.

Listeria in cheese from Austria killed six last year

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Austria’s health ministry says contaminated cheese has killed six people.

The ministry said the deaths – four in Austria and two in Germany – occurred last year and were caused by listeria, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems.

The ministry said the four Austrians who died were senior citizens.

The contaminated cheese was made in the southern province of Styria by Prolactal.

It issued a recall last month and said it had halted production until the case is cleared up.

In 2009, Austria recorded 45 listeria infections that led to a total of 11 deaths.
 

1 dead, 2 sick in Florida after drinking contaminated hotel water

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A Miami hotel has been evacuated after 1 guest died and 2 more fell ill from drinking contaminated water.

The hotel in question here is the Luxury Epic Hotel in downtown Miami, home to more than 300 guests at the time of the evacuation.

On Sunday, all guests were relocated to surrounding hotels, following the discovery of the cluster of cases of people falling ill.

It is yet to be confirmed that there was Legionella bacteria in water at the hotel, but health officials are confident that this indeed is the problem.

The fatality was reported in a man who stayed at the hotel 3 months ago, and was recently just learned of by health officials.
 

Raw milk: save the family farm while making kids barf?

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The N.Y. Times has a story running in tomorrow’s edition flaunting the value of raw milk as a way to save the family farm because a small percentage of people pay a hefty premium for the raw stuff.

The story lacks any mention of adverse health effects from raw milk , other than quoting an FDA type as saying, “raw milk should not be consumed by anyone, at any time, for any reason.”

Such proclamations are not particularly persuasive.

The story, like many others, notes that people want to know where their food comes from; but that doesn’t make food safer. Knowing how to control and minimize the spread of dangerous microorganisms makes food safer, whether it’s from around the corner or around the globe.

The Times story does however make mention of the Quebec listeria outbreak of 2008 that was traced to cheese made from unpasteurized milk, stating that “one person died; more than 30 became ill,” and proclaiming that the government went crazy recalling nearly 60,000 pounds, of cheese from hundreds of producers.

The Times story appears to be something about government out-of-control, although it’s a mish-mash.  And it fails to mention that the 2008 Quebec outbreak, led to 38 hospitalizations, of which 13 were pregnant and gave birth prematurely. Two adults died and there were 13 perinatal deaths. Recent research has demonstrated listeria can cause illness in fetuses and infants at much lower doses than previously thought.
 

An updated table of unpastuerized milk and cheese outbreaks is below.

http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-milk-outbreaks

Listeria causes illness in fetuses, infants, at much lower dose than previously thought

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Chapman is here in Manhattan (Kansas) for a couple days, delivering a seminar later today, hanging out at the Missouri-Kansas State football game tomorrow, and primarily helping plot our research and extension activities for the next few years.

We’ve both sired offspring in the past year-and-a-bit, so the issue of listeria and pregnant women has been a recurring theme – on barfblog.com, in research proposals, and in our microbiological nerd discussions.

Researchers from the University of Georgia reported in the journal, Risk Analysis, this month, that pregnant women may get ill from Listeria at lower doses than previously thought.

The risk of fetal or infant mortality among pregnant women who consume food containing 1 million cells of the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes in soft cheeses and other food is estimated at about 50 percent, suggesting five stillbirths potentially could occur when 10 pregnant women are exposed to that amount.

A previous risk assessment estimated more than 10 trillion cells would result in stillbirths to 50 percent of pregnant women exposed, researchers said.

"We’re not saying there’s a new epidemic here, we’re suggesting we’ve come up with a more accurate method of measuring the risk and how this deadly bacteria impacts humans, especially the most medically vulnerable among us," study co-author Mary Alice Smith of the University of Georgia said in a statement.

When estimates are extrapolated from data in tests on laboratory animals, the results showed "Listeriosis is likely occurring from exposure to lower doses than previously estimated," Smith said.

That’s a convoluted way of saying Listeria happens, and it’s probably more deadly than anyone thought for developing babies. Given the ridiculously low levels of awareness amongst physicians, health professionals and expectant mothers, new messages using a variety of media are needed so parents-to-be are at least aware of the risks of certain refrigerated, ready-to-eat foods.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated approximately 2,500 cases of Listeriosis occur annually in the United States, with about 500 cases resulting in death. In 2000, Listeria exposure resulted in a higher rate of hospitalization than any other food-borne pathogen and more than one-third of reported deaths from food pathogens, the CDC says.
 

9 outbreaks, 2 dead, 130 ill from same Salmonella across UK

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The Telegraph reports this morning that around 130 people have fallen ill with the same strain of Salmonella linked to poultry and eggs since August across England and Wales

Five outbreaks have been linked to oriental restaurants, three to other restaurants and one was in a care home.

Two people with the infection died in the care home, which has not been named by officials, but post mortem results have proved inconclusive about the cause of death.

Three other people have been treated in hospital, a report from the Health Protection Agency said.
 

Canadians can go back to sleep; Maple Leaf Foods is profitable again

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Some American colleagues have said killing 22 customers with deli-meat would have led to a non-existent company. Not so in Canada, where $5.5 billion companies like Maple Leaf Foods can say with a straight face that listeria presented new challenges in the ready-to-eat food category.

Maple Leaf has been praised for its communication activities in the aftermath of the listeria outbreak last fall, but instead of taking a real leadership role they have fallen back on the tired and true – their stock went up, so everyone is happy.

Specifically, Maple Leaf has failed to provide point-of-sale warnings to at-risk populations like pregnant women and old folks, failed to publicly release listeria test data and failed to promote their food safety efforts at retail, to enhance the food safety culture back at the producer and processor level, and to build consumer confidence. A completely blown opportunity.

Well done: be aggressively mediocre. That’s how to get brownie points in Canada.

 

A second resident has died of Salmonella at UK care home

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An elderly woman who was admitted to Sunderland Royal Hospital after eight cases of Samonella were confirmed at Millum House Care Home in Roker, Sunderland, has died.

A post-mortem examination to establish the cause of her death is to be carried out.

The news follows the death of great-grandmother Myra Robinson, 72, who died in hospital last Saturday following the outbreak.

The remaining patients, who include three members of staff at the three-storey home, have recovered.

Health chiefs are investigating, but the cause of the outbreak still remains unclear.