The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that Cryptosporidium is the leading cause of outbreaks of diarrhea linked to water and the third leading cause of diarrhea associated with animal contact in the United States.
During 2009–2017, 444 cryptosporidiosis outbreaks, resulting in 7,465 cases were reported by 40 states and Puerto Rico. The number of reported outbreaks has increased an average of approximately 13% per year. Leading causes include swallowing contaminated water in pools or water playgrounds, contact with infected cattle, and contact with infected persons in child care settings.
What are the implications for public health practice?
To prevent cryptosporidiosis outbreaks, CDC recommends not swimming or attending child care if ill with diarrhea and recommends hand washing after contact with animals.
More Brits could be affected by mad cow disease as experts warn many could be infected without knowing. A second wave of deaths related to eating beef contaminated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) – or mad cow disease – could sweep the UK.
In 1993 Britain’s worst food scandal saw 4.4 million cows culled and claiming the lives of 177 people who had developed the human form of it, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Since then, strict controls have been in place to prevent BSE contaminating food products and the use of meat and bone mix is illegal. But humans could be affected for up to 50 years, warn experts. Neurology professor, Richard Knight, of Edinburgh’s CJD Surveillance Unit, told a BBC investigation – airing July 11 – that it is still unclear how many could be affected. He said: ‘There is still so much uncertainty about this disease.
‘And one of the things that is uncertain is how many people in the UK are silently infected. ‘At the moment I have to say we are simply not sure, but every prediction suggests there are going to be further cases.’ vCJD is caused by prions, which are infectious agents made up mainly of proteins. A study of a similar disease in 2009, caused by prions, showed the disease may incubate undetected for much longer. All affected had carried the same MM genetic makeup, but in 2009 victim Grant Goodwin, 30, became the first person to die of vCJD, despite carrying the different gene type of MV. In 2014, a British man, 36, became the second MV carrier to die from the disease.
I told Amy when I die and my brain is carved up in Sydney, my epitaph should be, improving food safety, one thermometer at a time.
I still feel naked when cooking without a thermometer.
According to a study conducted by researchers at Purdue University, few people use thermometers when they cook—even if they know how.
One of the major reasons that consumers don’t use thermometers, researchers found, is because they tend to draw inspiration from outside sources—celebrity chefs, cookbook authors, magazines, restaurant managers, and food blogs. These outlets rarely ever mention or demonstrate the importance of cooking food to proper temperatures.
“We see that celebrity chefs simply rely on time estimates in their recipes or cut through the meat to show there is no blood or pink. That doesn’t always mean the food is safe, however,” says Yaohua “Betty” Feng, an assistant professor of food science at Purdue. “That affects the behaviors of home cooks and professional cooks. If their role models aren’t using thermometers, why should they? But if chefs preparing food on television or social media would include the use of a thermometer to ensure the food is thoroughly cooked, it would have an impact on their viewers.”
Feng worked with University of California’s Christine M. Bruhn to analyze 85 studies from over two decades to understand knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors associated with thermometer use. Despite it being considered a best practice in home and professional kitchens, thermometer use is low.
In one study, two-thirds of people reported owning a meat thermometer, but less than 20 percent used it all the time to check the temperature of chicken, and less than 10 percent used it all the time for hamburgers. About half of consumers say that thermometers aren’t necessary to check the doneness of egg or meat dishes.
Feng also noted that many people are unsure which type of thermometer to buy or how to correctly use them, including where to place the thermometer in the food, the correct endpoint temperatures, proper temperature calibration for the thermometer, and proper cleaning and sanitation. About 95 percent of people in one study did not clean their thermometers after use.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative supported this research. The results were published in the Journal of Food Protection in January 2019.
The main goal of the present paper is to overview, using the example of pigs/pork, the developments in official meat inspection in the European Union that occurred from 2000 onwards. The developments aim at transition from traditional, macroscopic examination of slaughtered animals to a risk and meat-chain based, comprehensive meat safety assurance system.
pig
The scientific reasoning for those developments and the generic framework of a modernised system as proposed by the European Food Safety Authority, as well as the current status and future perspectives of related changes, are considered. Also, the main factors hampering the implementation of the changes in practice and possible directions for further work needed to overcome them are outlined.
From traditional meat inspection to development of meat safety assurance programs in pig abattoirs- the European situation
The hepatitis A vaccine is the best way to prevent HAV infection.
The following groups are at highest risk for acquiring HAV infection or developing serious complications from HAV infection in these outbreaks and should be offered the hepatitis A vaccine in order to prevent or control an outbreak:
People who use drugs (injection or non-injection)
People experiencing unstable housing or homelessness
Men who have sex with men (MSM)
People who are currently or were recently incarcerated
People with chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C
One dose of single-antigen hepatitis A vaccine has been shown to control outbreaks of hepatitis A and provides up to 95% seroprotection in healthy individuals for up to 11 years.1,2
Pre-vaccination serologic testing is not required to administer hepatitis A vaccine. Vaccinations should not be postponed if vaccination history cannot be obtained or records are unavailable.
“Outbreak-associated” status is currently determined at the state level in accordance with each state’s respective outbreak case definition.
Outbreak-related hepatitis A deaths are defined at the state level in accordance with each state’s respective hepatitis A-related death definition. Some states are reviewing death certificates on a regular basis to actively find hepatitis A-related deaths, while other states are utilizing passive surveillance.
Outbreak start date is defined at the state level and may represent the earliest onset date of an outbreak case (AR, AZ, UT), the left censor date for which cases are considered part of the outbreak based on the state outbreak case definition (AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MI, MO, NC, NH, OH, SC, TN, VA), or when a state declared a hepatitis A outbreak (NM, WV).
CDC’s Response
In response to all hepatitis outbreaks, CDC provides ongoing epidemiology and laboratory support as well as support on vaccine supply and vaccine policy development. When requested, CDC sends “disease detectives” to affected areas to evaluate and assist in an outbreak response. CDC alerts other public health jurisdictions of any increases in disease. All jurisdictions are encouraged to be watchful for increases in hepatitis A cases. CDC also works with state and local health officials to ensure hepatitis A vaccine is targeted to the correct at-risk populations and that supply is adequate.
Postexposure Prophylaxis
Postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is recommended for unvaccinated people who have been exposed to hepatitis A virus (HAV) in the last 2 weeks; those with evidence of previous vaccination do not require PEP.
NOTE: CDC recommends that all children be vaccinated against hepatitis A at age 1 year. Parents or caregivers who are unsure if a child has been vaccinated should consult the child’s health-care provider to confirm vaccination status.
HAV Specimen Requests
State health departments wanting to submit specimens must contact CDC at hepaoutbreaklab@cdc.gov for approval before shipping specimens to CDC. Only specimens that that have tested positive for anti-hepatitis A IgM and meet any of the following criteria will be considered.
Specimen from a case patient in a county that has not yet reported a hepatitis A case in an at-risk population;
Specimen from a case patient who doesn’t report any known risk factors or contact with at-risk populations (e.g., household or sexual contact, volunteering at a homeless shelter);
Specimen from a case patient suspected to be associated with foodborne transmission;
Archived/stored specimen from a patient who has died, and whose classification as an outbreak-related death requires nucleic acid testing beyond anti-HAV IgM-positivity; or
Other patient specimens not meeting the above criteria that require nucleic acid testing or molecular characterization (to be discussed on a case-by-case basis).
CDC is developing educational materials to support the outbreak at the state and local levels. Most materials include an area where local information can be inserted. Your organization’s contact information can be typed into the blue colored rectangle. To upload your logo, click on the white space below the blue colored rectangle. In the pop-up box, select browse and upload a PDF version of your logo.
Fact Sheets
One page visual fact sheets encouraging vaccination for:
Two page visual fact sheet pdf icon[PDF – 615 KB] that includes information on hepatitis A prevention, transmission, symptoms and encourages multiple populations to get vaccinated
Printing Instructions: These cards should be printed double-sided on 4.25” x 5.5” perforated postcard templates that print four double-sided cards per page. The print settings must be set to “Actual size” or “Custom Scale 100%” to ensure accurate alignment of the two sides of the cards.
Pocket Card Printing Instructions: These cards should be printed double-sided on business card templates that print six double-sided cards per page. The print settings must be set to “Actual size” or “Custom Scale 100%” to ensure accurate alignment of the two sides of the cards.
Scott Weese of the Worms and Germs Blog, a prof, vet, from the University of Guelph, and more importantly, a dude I played hockey with all those years ago, writes, as I was writing the post below, my youngest daughter walked in the door and said “a chick pooped on me today.”
(He’s one of the bald dudes in this pic from 2005: hint, leave when you’ve won, and have a full head of hair, which I did)
It wasn’t a total surprise since I’d heard a vague statement from her about maybe having chicks in the class for the end of the year.
Is it potentially fun and/or educational?
Sure. If it’s done right.
Is it done right?
Doesn’t sound like it.
Chicks are cute and can be entertaining. They can also be educational. Yet, contact with them is clearly associated with disease. While I get an infosheet from the school and have to sign something every time one of my kids does any other type of activity, there was no notice about this particular activity, no information about risks and preventive measures, nothing about what to do if a child is at high risk for severe disease, or anything else.
Just my kid telling me she got pooped on.
I’m not overly concerned. She’s healthy, outside of the main high risk groups, and washed her hands after the incident. Yet, I don’t know (and doubt the school knows) whether that applies to everyone in the class or other kids that might have contact with the chicks. The chicks are also being kept in a classroom where the students eat.
A lot could be done to minimize and communicate the risks. We tried approaching the provincial Ministry of Education and school boards quite a few years ago to look into animal exposures in schools, and there was basically zero interest in the subject. Whether that’s because there was no awareness of the issues or no desire to find out what’s actually going on is hard to say.
Now on to the post I was writing…
CDC has related an updated investigation notice about Salmonella from backyard poultry. As of June 13th, 279 infected people have been identified in 41 states, with cases dating back to January 1st, 2019.. That probably means a few thousand people have actually been infected, since reported disease numbers are typically dwarfed by the real number of cases.
The strains that have been linked to the outbreak are Salmonella Agona, Anatum, Braenderup, Infantis, Montevideo and Newport
30% of infected people were children younger than 5 years old, which is the group that typically gets sick or seriously ill from Salmonella.
26% of people were hospitalized. Fortunately, no deaths were reported.
About 40% of isolates were multidrug-resistant.
77% of infected individuals reported contact with chicks or ducklings from places like agricultural stores, mail order supplies and hatcheries.
One of the outbreak strains has also been found in backyard poultry in Ohio.
I’m not against animals in schools or backyard poultry. I’m just against being stupid. There are lots of things that can be done to reduce risks, and too often those easy, cheap and practical measures are ignored.
Frank didn’t waste any time after leaving Wal-Mart for government.
Good on ya.
But guidance is not enforcement.
My group learned that the hard way 20 years ago.
And they still serve sprouts to immunocompromised people in Australian hospitals despite a ridiculous number of outbreaks.
“Over the past 22 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has investigated 50 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with contaminated sprouts. Together, these outbreaks resulted in more than an estimated 2,600 cases of illness. Last year, there were two reported outbreaks associated with sprouts, resulting in more than an estimated 100 illnesses. Studies indicate that contaminated seed is the likely source of most sprout-related outbreaks, as this commodity is inherently more susceptible to these issues because they are grown in warm and humid conditions that are favorable for bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas.
“The FDA is committed to taking swift action to respond to outbreaks related to sprouts and keep our food supply safe, but we also know that measures to prevent issues from happening in the first place are an important element of protecting consumers. By studying outbreaks related to sprouts over the years, we have been able to recommend changes in the industry to help lower the incidence of sprout-related outbreaks. Today’s new draft guidance is another critical step, like the Sprout Safety Alliance or sprout-specific requirements of the Produce Safety Rule, the agency is taking to prevent illnesses related to sprouts.”
FDA today released a proposed draft guidance, “Reducing Microbial Food Safety Hazards in the Production of Seed for Sprouting,” intended to make the sprout seed industry (seed growers, conditioners, packers, holders, suppliers, and distributors) aware of the agency’s serious concerns with the continuing outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of raw and lightly-cooked sprouts.
Incorporating aspects of the Codex Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Annex II, Annex for Sprout Production; the International Sprout Growers Association-Institute for Food Safety and Health’s “U.S. Sprout Production Best Practices”; and Good Agricultural Practices, the FDA’s draft guidance issued today provides the agency’s recommendations to firms throughout the production chain of seed for sprouting. It states that if a grower, holder, conditioner, or distributor reasonably believes that its seeds are expected to be used for sprouting, we recommend that the grower, holder, conditioner, or distributor take steps that are reasonably necessary to prevent those seeds from becoming contaminated. We also recommend that firms throughout the supply chain – from seed production and distribution through sprouting – review their current operations related to seeds for sprouting.
Happy birthday to my beautiful and brainy wife who has guided me through the last few years as my brain goes away, is manager of Sorenne’s hockey team, and has taken on a lot that she didn’t sign up for.
(She’s driving me to the neurologist in about an hour).
This pic is shortly after we met in 2005.
She’s wearing her trademarked, I’m-a-French-professor-so-I-get-to-wear-outrageous-scarfs look, and I’m wearing a shirt from the long gone New Zealand Food safety Authority.
Most of the people who got sick ate commercial grown mussels harvested in Coromandel.
“It is possible that the strain of vibrio parahaemolyticus is unusually aggressive, which may mean that even low numbers could cause illness,” NZ food safety director of regulation Paul Dansted said.
“Additional testing of mussels and the waters that they are being grown in is also underway to help us understand why this has happened.
“The mussels at the centre of the outbreak were all bought in their raw state, in the shell. They are not the mussels that can be bought in plastic pottles. Those mussels are cooked and marinated and are not affected.”
NZ Food Safety says people need to be careful when cooking mussels and heat them above 65C. It’s also advised to wash hands after handling shellfish, and avoid cross-contamination between raw and cooked shellfish.
The study examines the influence, and potential confluence, of message framing and issue involvement on consumer food safety perceptions. We assess the impact of gain and loss-framed messages and issue involvement on perceptions of two food safety enhancing technologies, cattle vaccines against E. coli and direct-fed microbials.
A survey with six information treatments was developed. Empirical results show that both loss-framed and gain-framed messages were persuasive in influencing safety perceptions of the two technologies under low issue involvement. Under high issue involvement, however, only the loss-framed message influenced consumers’ safety perceptions. High issue involvement also heightened concerns about foodborne infections.
Shaping food safety perceptions: The Influence of informational nudges
During 2009–2017, 444 cryptosporidiosis outbreaks, resulting in 7,465 cases were reported by 40 states and Puerto Rico. The number of reported outbreaks has increased an average of approximately 13% per year. Leading causes include swallowing contaminated water in pools or water playgrounds, contact with infected cattle, and contact with infected persons in child care settings.
