Vibrio risk model development using various water inputs

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a leading cause of seafood-borne gastroenteritis. Given its natural presence in brackish waters, there is a need to develop operational forecast models that can sufficiently predict the bacterium’s spatial and temporal variation.

 This work attempted to develop V. parahaemolyticus prediction models using frequently measured time-indexed and -lagged water quality measures. Models were built using a large data set (n = 1,043) of surface water samples from 2007 to 2010 previously analyzed for V. parahaemolyticus in the Chesapeake Bay. Water quality variables were classified as time indexed, 1-month lag, and 2-month lag. Tobit regression models were used to account for V. parahaemolyticus measures below the limit of quantification and to simultaneously estimate the presence and abundance of the bacterium. Models were evaluated using cross-validation and metrics that quantify prediction bias and uncertainty.

Presence classification models containing only one type of water quality parameter (e.g., temperature) performed poorly, while models with additional water quality parameters (i.e., salinity, clarity, and dissolved oxygen) performed well. Lagged variable models performed similarly to time-indexed models, and lagged variables occasionally contained a predictive power that was independent of or superior to that of time-indexed variables. Abundance estimation models were less effective, primarily due to a restricted number of samples with abundances above the limit of quantification. These findings indicate that an operational in situ prediction model is attainable but will require a variety of water quality measurements and that lagged measurements will be particularly useful for forecasting.

Future work will expand variable selection for prediction models and extend the spatial-temporal extent of predictions by using geostatistical interpolation techniques.

IMPORTANCE Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the leading causes of seafood-borne illness in the United States and across the globe. Exposure often occurs from the consumption of raw shellfish. Despite public health concerns, there have been only sporadic efforts to develop environmental prediction and forecast models for the bacterium preharvest.

This analysis used commonly sampled water quality measurements of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and clarity to develop models for V. parahaemolyticus in surface water. Predictors also included measurements taken months before water was tested for the bacterium. Results revealed that the use of multiple water quality measurements is necessary for satisfactory prediction performance, challenging current efforts to manage the risk of infection based upon water temperature alone.

The results also highlight the potential advantage of including historical water quality measurements. This analysis shows promise and lays the groundwork for future operational prediction and forecast models.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the Chesapeake Bay: Operational in situ predition and forecast models can benefit from inclusion of lagged water quality measurements

Public and Environmental Health Microbiology

Benjamin J. K. Davis, John M. Jacobs, Benjamin Zaitchik, Angelo DePaola, Frank C. Curriero

DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01007-19

https://aem.asm.org/content/85/17/e01007-19.abstract?etoc

Tennesee restaurant closed temporarily for washing kitchen utensils in lake

A Chinese restaurant in Old Hickory was closed temporarily Tuesday by the Metro health Department after a video showed employees washing kitchen utensils in a nearby lake.

A video taken on Tuesday morning and posted to social media showed restaurant employees washing cooking utensils in Old Hickory Lake. The man who took the video, Lance Glover, said he recorded the incident around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

The video showed people cleaning what appears to be a fire grate in Old Hickory Lake. Glover’s video then shows the employees returning with the equipment to the restaurant.

The Metro Health Department shut down No. 1 Chinese Restaurant, located 1435 Robinson Rd., after inspectors visited the restaurant.

According to Victor Oguntimehin, the health inspector, the restaurant operators initially denied they washed items in the lake. The restaurant admitted to washing the utensils in the lake after Oguntimehin showed them Glover’s video.

Mary Capps, who fishes on Old Hickory Lake, told News 4 she has seen the employees cleaning “greasy grates” almost every morning.

Money: Cost of Salmonella infections in Australia, 2015

Gastroenteritis caused from infections with Salmonella enterica (salmonellosis) causes significant morbidity in Australia. In addition to acute gastroenteritis, approximately 8.8% of people develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and 8.5% of people develop reactive arthritis (ReA). We estimated the economic cost of salmonellosis and associated sequel illnesses in Australia in a typical year circa 2015.

We estimated incidence, hospitalizations, other health care usage, absenteeism, and premature mortality for four age groups using a variety of complementary data sets. We calculated direct costs (health care) and indirect costs (lost productivity and premature mortality) by using Monte Carlo simulation to estimate 90% credible intervals (CrI) around our point estimates.

We estimated that 90,833 cases, 4,312 hospitalizations, and 19 deaths occurred from salmonellosis in Australia circa 2015 at a direct cost of AUD 23.8 million (90% CrI, 19.3 to 28.9 million) and a total cost of AUD 124.4 million (90% CrI, 107.4 to 143.1 million). When IBS and ReA were included, the estimated direct cost was 35.7 million (90% CrI, 29.9 to 42.7 million) and the total cost was AUD 146.8 million (90% CrI, 127.8 to 167.9 million).

Foodborne infections were responsible for AUD 88.9 million (90% CrI, 63.9 to 112.4 million) from acute salmonellosis and AUD 104.8 million (90% CrI, 75.5 to 132.3 million) when IBS and ReA were included. Targeted interventions to prevent illness could considerably reduce costs and societal impact from Salmonella infections and sequel illnesses in Australia.

Cost of salmonella infections in Australia, 2015

September 2019

Journal of Food Protection vol. 82 no. 9

LAURA FORD,1 PHILIP HAYWOOD,2 MARTYN D. KIRK,1 EMILY LANCSAR,3 DEBORAH A. WILLIAMSON,4 and KATHRYN GLASS1*

 

500 sick, 2 dead since 2011: FDA focusing on the papaya industry

Norman Sharpless and Frank Yiannas of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration write that fresh papayas are most often eaten raw, without cooking or processing to eliminate microbial hazards; and therefore, the way they are grown, harvested, packed, held, processed and distributed is crucial to minimizing the risk of contamination with human pathogens.

Since 2011, American consumers have been exposed to eight outbreaks caused by Salmonella serotypes linked to imported, fresh papaya. And, just this June we started an investigation into an outbreak of Salmonella Uganda illnesses tied to the consumption of whole, fresh papaya imported from Mexico. While the 2019 outbreak is ongoing, the first seven outbreaks accounted for almost 500 reported cases of illness, more than 100 hospitalizations, and two deaths.

This trend has to stop. The pattern of recurrent outbreaks we have observed since 2011, including the 2019 illnesses, have involved Salmonella infections traced back to, or are suspected of being associated with, papaya grown in Mexico. The recurring nature of these outbreaks is a clear indication that more must be done within all sectors of the papaya industry to protect its customers and to meet its legal obligations. This includes growers, importers and even retailers that can and must do more.

This is why today we have issued a letter calling on all sectors of the papaya industry to take actions to prevent these outbreaks in the future. We are urging growers, packers, shippers and retailers in the papaya industry to review their operations and make all necessary changes to strengthen public health safeguards.

Our letter calls on the papaya industry to assess the factors that make their crops vulnerable to contamination. If a foodborne pathogen is identified in the crop or growing environment, a root cause analysis should be performed to determine the likely source of contamination. Procedures and practices that minimize that contamination must be implemented.

We are strongly encouraging the papaya industry to examine the use and monitoring of water used to grow, spray (pesticides, fungicides), move, rinse or wax crops to identify and minimize risks from potential hazards. All sectors of the industry should adopt tools and practices needed to enhance traceability since papayas are a perishable commodity, to more rapidly facilitate the tracking of involved product to expedite its removal from commerce, prevent additional consumer exposures, and properly focus any recall actions.

And finally, they should fund and actively engage in food safety research to identify the potential sources and routes of contamination by microbial pathogens and develop data-driven and risk-based preventive controls.

In response to this most recent Salmonella Uganda outbreak, the FDA deployed an inspection team to the packing house and farm that was linked to the contaminated papayas via traceback and epidemiological evidence. The findings of those visits will be made public when their investigation is complete. We have also increased sampling and screening of papayas at the border. In addition, the FDA is actively collaborating with our counterparts in the Mexican government regarding this current outbreak through the agency’s Latin America Office to determine ways to further our collaborative prevention efforts.

The U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits food producers from introducing, or delivering for introduction, into interstate commerce adulterated foods (meaning foods that are potentially harmful to consumers). Additionally, there are new requirements under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The Produce Safety Rule under FSMA sets science- and risk-based minimum standards for domestic and foreign farms for the safe growing, harvesting, packing and holding of covered produce, which includes papayas. Another FSMA rule, the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) makes importers responsible for verifying that the foods they bring into the U.S., including papayas, have been produced in a manner that meets applicable U.S. safety standards. 

I prefer mangoes.

Missouri county imposes mandatory hepatitis A vaccines for food service workers

While the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is recommending the hepatitis A vaccine for all food service workers, a Missouri county has imposed mandatory Hepatitis A vaccinations for food handlers.

Tommy Tobin of Forbes reports Franklin County, Missouri, joins a handful of jurisdictions across the country with mandatory Hepatitis A vaccine programs aimed at preventing further cases. This development is part of a larger trend aimed at expanding vaccinations for Hepatitis A and addressing future outbreaks of the disease.

The CDC is investigating outbreaks of Hepatitis A across 29 states. According to the CDC, 233 individuals have died from Hepatitis A between 2016 and 2019 out of over 24,000 reported cases. Several states, including Kentucky, Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia, have seen thousands of cases.

In an effort to curb the increase in reported cases of Hepatitis A, many local jurisdictions are considering mandatory Hepatitis A vaccines for food service workers. For example, Missouri has reported 387 cases of Hepatitis A in the past two years. Over 50 of these cases are from Franklin County, which has a population of about 100,000 residents. Franklin County officials have imposed mandatory vaccinations for individuals who handle food. Food establishments, including restaurants, have 90 days to ensure their employees are vaccinated.  Nearby St. Louis County, Missouri enacted a mandatory vaccine requirement nearly 20 years ago. Similar ordinances requiring vaccines for food service workers were enacted in Kentucky’s Ashland and Boyd Counties last year.

With the numerous cases across the country of Hepatitis A, the National Restaurant Association recently issued guidance to its member restaurants in an effort to reduce future cases.  In this guidance, the Association recommended that restaurant managers and operators encourage employees to get vaccinated, educate restaurant staff about the virus, and monitor for any signs of the disease. (Note: The National Restaurant Association did not respond to requests for comment on this story). Separately, a CDC advisory panel recently recommended expanding the use of the Hepatitis A vaccine to all youth aged 2 to 18. 

7 sick with Listeria in Canada linked to Rosemount brand cooked diced chicken: 2 dead 22 sick in US possibly related

As of August 23 2019, there have been seven confirmed cases of Listeria monocytogenes illness in three Canadian provinces: British Columbia (1), Manitoba (1) and Ontario (5) linked to cooked Rosemount brand cooked diced chicken.

The Public Health Agency of Canada notes Rosemount cooked diced chicken was supplied to institutions (including cafeterias, hospitals and nursing homes) where many of the individuals who became sick resided, or visited, before becoming ill.

Individuals became sick between November 2017 and June 2019. Six individuals have been hospitalized. Individuals who became ill are between 51 and 97 years of age. The majority of cases (86%) are female.

The collaborative outbreak investigation was initiated because of an increase of Listeria illnesses that were reported in June 2019. Through the use of a laboratory method called whole genome sequencing, two Listeria illnesses from November 2017 were identified to have the same genetic strain as the illnesses that occurred between April and June 2019. It is possible that more recent illnesses may be reported in the outbreak because of the period of time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported to public health officials. In national Listeria monocytogenes outbreak investigations, the reporting time period is usually between four and six weeks.

The U.S. CDC is also investigating an outbreak  of Listeria illnesses occurring in several states. The type of Listeria identified in the U.S. is closely related genetically (by whole genome sequencing) to the Listeria making people sick in Canada. Canada and U.S. public health and food safety partners are collaborating on these ongoing Listeria investigations.

CDC is not recommending that consumers avoid any particular food at this time. Restaurants and retailers are not advised to avoid serving or selling any particular food. We will update our advice if a source is identified.

Latest Outbreak Information

At A Glance

Reported Cases: 24

States: 13

Hospitalizations: 22

Deaths: 2

24 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogeneshave been reported from 13 states.

Of 23 ill people with information available, 22 hospitalizations have been reported.

Two deaths have been reported.

UK Chinese restaurant had ‘ideal conditions for food poisoning bacteria in the kitchen’

Kate Lally of the Wirral Globe reports environmental health officers found a catalogue of problems at Sun Ying in Birkenhead including chefs wearing dirty clothes, raw chicken being chopped on the same surface as vegetables, and filthy kitchen surfaces and food storage racks.

Chefs told inspectors they regularly left items such as cooked duck and cooked rice out for some six hours at a time.

A report following the environmental health visit states this presents “ideal conditions for food poisoning bacteria to grow” and that the “risk of causing food poisoning among customers is high.”

Inspectors also found sweet and sour chicken being kept “hot” in the all-you-can-eat buffet area was lukewarm and therefore should have been thrown away after a maximum of two hours.

Several packs of eggs – which appeared to have been purchased at a heavily reduced price – were found to be more than three weeks out of date.

Following the June inspection the restaurant – which has a 3-out-of-5 rating on Tripadvisor – was given the second lowest hygiene rating, and the report says staff’s food hygiene awareness was “inadequate.”

These people had no business running a restaurant, just like Sorenne at an aquarium … in Arizona … petting a two-toed sloth. Random.

Norovirus and Hepatitis A risk in Australian greens and berries

The apparent international rise in foodborne virus outbreaks attributed to fresh produce and the increasing importance of fresh produce in the Australian diet has led to the requirement to gather information to inform the development of risk management strategies.

A prevalence survey for norovirus (NoV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) in fresh Australian produce (leafy greens, strawberries and blueberries) at retail was undertaken during 2013–2014 and data used to develop a risk profile. The prevalence of HAV in berries and leafy greens was estimated to be <2%, with no virus detected in produce during the yearlong survey. The prevalence of NoV in fresh strawberries and blueberries was also estimated to be <2% with no virus detected in berries, whilst for leafy greens the NoV prevalence was 2.2%.

Prevalence of a bacterial hygiene indicator, Escherichia coli, was also investigated and found to range from <1% in berries to 10.7% in leafy greens. None of the NoV positive leafy green samples tested positive for E. coli, indicating it is a poor indicator for viral risk.

The risk was evaluated using standard codex procedures and the Risk Ranger tool. Taking all data into account, including the hazard dose and severity, probability of exposure, probability of infective dose and available epidemiological data, the risk of HAV and NoV foodborne illness associated with fresh Australian berries (strawberries and blueberries) sold as packaged product was deemed to be low. The risk of foodborne illness from HAV associated with leafy greens was also deemed to be low, but higher than that for fresh berries, due mainly to the potential for recontamination post-processing if sold loose. The risk of foodborne illness from NoV associated with leafy greens was deemed to be low/moderate. Despite the prevalence of NoV in leafy greens being low and the inability to discriminate between infective and non-infective virus using PCR based methodologies, the fact that NoV was detected resulted in a higher risk associated with this pathogen-product pairing; compounded by the higher prevalence of NoV within the community compared to HAV, and the potential for leafy greens to become contaminated following processing if sold loose.

Estimating risk associated with human norovirus and hepatitis A virus in fresh Australian leafy greens and berries at retail 26 August 2019

International Journal of Food Microbiology

Valeria A.Torok, Kate R.Hodgson, Jessica Jolley, Alison Turnbull, Catherine McLeod

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.108327

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168160518306974

2 dead, 184 sick linked to Spanish listeriosis outbreak

Last Tuesday a 90-year-old woman passed away, becoming the second death in Spain’s burgeoning listeria outbreak linked to La Mecha branded ‘carne mechada.’

The outbreak has been traced to utensils (slicers? Something lost in translation) used in the preparation of the food products.

Now experts say the bacteria may be present in other products from the Magrudis factory in Sevilla. All its production has been recalled with experts saying at least two other products are at high risk of having been infected.

Medical authorities say this strain of the bacterium is particularly virulent, taking three days to incubate. Normally the incubation period is up to 70 days.

E. coli O111:H8: Chaource Lincet and Gaugry raw milk cheeses recalled in France

A few hundred Chaource raw milk cheese brands Lincet and Gaugry, sold throughout France, are subject to a recall procedure after the demonstration of the presence of Escherichia coli. A check has highlighted in these products, manufactured by the Lincet cheese factory in Vaudes in the Aube, the presence of Escherichia coli O111: H8, indicates the cheese Friday in a statement.

This bacterium is likely to cause serious problems in anyone consuming the product, she adds. Nearly 700 Chaource AOP cheeses of 500 grams raw milk, bearing the lot number 227.210 and with a deadline of consumption to 27 September 2019, are concerned, according to the press release.

Lincet brand cheeses have been sold in a variety of supermarket chains, both traditional and fresh, while Gaugry branded cheeses have been distributed in the dairy and market channels.