Tag Archives: France

Ham knuckles with staph, oysters with noro fell 94 at French rugby cocktail party

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I thought rugby match cocktail parties only happened with cans of Brockman’s beer after the games; I have seen Invictus. It’s the way hockey players do it – especially the girls.

The Institut de Veille Sanitaire in France reports today (thanks Albert) that on Feb. 20, 2010, the Fire and Rescue Service of the Hérault district informed the Regional Health Authorities that symptoms such as stomach ache, nausea, vomiting were diagnosed among around 15 people taking part in a rugby match cocktail party.

One person was taken to the local emergency hospital service. … A total of 94 cases and 110 controls were reported among the people taking part in the cocktail party. Two successive epidemic events were identified with distinct symptoms and median incubation periods of 3.5 and 30 hours. The results of the epidemiological, biological and veterinary investigations were in favor of an intoxication of the early cases due to the ingestion of knuckle of ham pieces contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus (OR=3.75; IC=[1.91; 7.35] p=0.001) and an intoxication of late cases due to the ingestion of oyster contaminated by Norovirus (OR=32.22; IC=[7.09 ; 146.34] p<0.001). In this investigation, food and pathogens at the origin of the contamination were identified. This outbreak stresses the importance of respecting hygiene measures in collective catering and defining first management measures as soon as the results of the investigation are known.

Full report only in French, http://www.invs.sante.fr/publications/2010/Tiac/Rapport%20Tiac.pdf
 

French farmer kept ducks stoned to prevent worms; court says no

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A 60-year-old duck farmer in France received a one-month suspended sentence and a 500 Euro fine after providing cannabis to his waterfowl.

During the hearing the farmer admitted that he also smoked "a little" marijuana and he justified giving it to his 150 ducks as a "purge." He said there is no better way to deworm the birds. He said was advised to do so, but would not name the specialist who gave the advice.

The farmer was caught after he reported a theft at his home in October. Police arrived to discover 12 marijuana plants and a 5 kilo bag of weed.

The police said this was the first time they have seen anything like this even though they are quite accustomed to hearing silly excuses when it comes to narcotics (or that’s how Amy translated that sentence; thanks to Albert for the story tip).

630 now sick from salmonella in hamburger, calls for improved communication

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The salmonella outbreak that has now sickened more than 630 students in Poitiers, France, has led calls for improved communication.

Centre Presse reports a meeting with different concerned parties took place in a closed session at the Prefecture. The FCPE (Federation of Boards of Parents of Students in Public Schools) and the PEEP (Parents of Students in Public Education) were invited.

The teenagers consumed hamburger patties contaminated with salmonella, produced by the Inalca company based in Italy and distributed by the Pomona company into different school cafeterias in France.

Stéphane Jarlégand, the regional Prefecture’s Chief of Staff, said yesterday, “An international investigation is underway,” and that to date, the children have all overcome this misstep and none suffered any “serious effects.”

The French seriously need to improve their communications.

Staff announced that a working group had been set up to “test new technologies able to provide rapid emergency messaging to parents.”

It’s possible that the chosen path will be an automated call broadcasting a clear message that could be sent out via SMS. The system is already in place in Vienne through the Centrale de Civaux (the nuclear plant in Vienne – a.h.) and also for floods.
 

Salmonella in France: 500 sick from beef patties

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A report released Wednesday by the Prefecture of Vienne in France concluded that 500 people, mostly middle school and high school students in Poitiers, were poisoned to varying degrees between October 19 and 22, 2010, after eating hamburgers containing salmonella.

Most are young people from three middle schools and one high school in Poitiers and about 20 people had to be hospitalized.

At Saint-Cyr (Haute-Vienne), twelve cases (seven from Annecy) were identified at a holiday resort, and a dozen were identified in a nursing home for the elderly.

The investigation lead by the Departmental Direction of Population Protection identified the offending food as a batch of frozen beef patties produced by an Italian company.

Thanks to my friend in France, Albert Amgar, for forwarding the latest story from AFP, and my best friend, Amy Hubbell, for the translation.
 

The secrets of a salmonella outbreak; over 100 sick

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There are now over 100 sick with salmonella in France linked to hamburgers, primarily school kids, so as in the U.S., questions are being raised about food safety standards and procedures for products purchased by the school lunch program. After a USA Today expose last year, the U.S. asked microbiologist Gary Acuff to lead a panel to review and improve school lunch purchases.

My friend, Albert Amgar, wrote a particularly incisive blog post about the culture of food safety secrecy in France. Amy translated and excerpts follow:

The food poisoning outbreak caused by Salmonella in ground beef patties has raised many questions.

Of course, communication has been, as usual, opaque, but now the school cafeteria’s contract for the hamburgers is itself classified top secret, according to a Nov. 6 article by Emmanuel Coupaye of Centre Presse.fr, the newspaper for Vienne.

This journalist is asking questions: What are the established purchasing criteria for ground meat in the middle schools and high schools? After contamination, the question is disturbing.

Apart from the contamination of hamburgers with salmonella, "What is more upsetting is the National Education’s current difficulty in providing accurate information about the selection of products offered in school cafeterias. Since Thursday (November 4 – aa), we’ve been looking for an answer to a simple question: What are the selected criteria used in sourcing ground meat for Poitiers’ middle schools and high schools? Many parents as well as cattle farmers were surprised to learn that the meat for the hamburger patties was supplied by a foreign producer."

On Thursday, the manager of the high school, contacted by our editorial staff saw no problem with providing us a copy of the contract. We only had to come by the school yesterday morning (Friday, Nov. 5). Our goal was to know what are the established criteria for sourcing ground meat (French, EU or other) and the quality threshold (dairy breed, meat breed, meat with a seal of quality). But then, yesterday morning, after a night of reflection, the answer was no.

"I cannot give you this document," stated the school principal.

By late afternoon, the rector stated that he "did not have any information to add." Too bad the Ministry of Education’s website still boasts, under the catering section, its dual requirement "to maintain nutritional quality" and "better inform parents” (especially on issues related to food safety – aa).

In conclusion, the only thing left for us to do is to seize it through the Committee on Access to Administrative Documents!

I wish a lot of fun to those who would like to access these documents. Indeed, in France, transparency is often emphasized, but as pointed out in a recent book (Corinne Maier, Chao France, Flammarion, 2010) glasnost is not a French word. By comparison, the U.S. Congress passed a law on the freedom of information that requires the administration to establish clear standards to determine what documents can be classified as confidential, secret or top-secret, allowing citizens the right to challenge these classifications in court.

To be continued …
 

Sick in French salmonella outbreak tops 100

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Over 100 school kids (and a few adults) have been confirmed sick by salmonella in ground beef patties in Poitiers, France.

The source of original contamination has not been uncovered.

So far cases are limited to the Department of Vienne. Health authorities sent out a national alert but the school holidays hampered the investigation. It was an ER doctor in Poitiers who sent out the alert after seeing 8 patients arrive in the University Hospital with the same symptoms and from the same school. At that point they started a "regional cell of sanitary surveillance.” (Amy’s not sure on that translation).

Thanks to Albert Amgar for forwarding the story.
 

Salmonella sickens 52 in France

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Albert Amgar passed along this story about a salmonella outbreak largely located in middle schools in Poitiers, France.

Health authorities have confirmed salmonella in 52 people, found in ground beef patties.

The distributor that provided the contaminated burgers was asked to recall and destroy the entire lot without delay. The meat was apparently imported.

The story also says a child from the College Henri-IV underwent an unnecessary appendectomy. The female teen, who had a very high fever and violent abdominal pains, was apparently also a victim of this foodborne outbreak.

(Translated by Amy Hubbell)
 

E. coli O26 positive; Carrefour in France recalls frozen hamburger patties

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Escherichia coli O26 H11 has been found in ground beef, prompting the large distribution group Carrefour to recall a batch of frozen hamburger patties sold under the brand name Carrefour Discount with a best-by date of June 18, 2011.

The frozen hamburger patties, sold in Carrefour, Carrefour Market, Carrefour City and Carrefour Contact, have a sanitation stamp IE 565 EC.

The Carrefour group explained in a press release that consumers who have purchased products with this stamp should not eat them and must return them to the store where they will be reimbursed.

That’s different from advice with other recalls in France, where consumers have been advised to simply cook the burgers until well-done. The new advice probably takes into account the risks of cross-contamination in any kind of kitchen. There was no explanation how the E. coli O26 was detected – whether it was through regular testing or part of a foodborne illness investigation.

Carrefour has set up this toll-free number (for France): 0805 909 809.
 

E. coli O123:H in a family in France, 2009

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King et al., report in Emerging Infectious Disease that on February 11, 2009, two cases of diarrhea were reported to a surveillance coordinator: 1 in a child with HUS and the other in that child’s sibling.

The 2 siblings, 2 and 6 years of age, had diarrhea beginning on February 4 and 5, 2009. Bloody diarrhea developed in the younger child, and HUS was diagnosed on February 9. The older child had non-bloody diarrhea for 3 days and abdominal pain. Questioning of the patients’ parents identified no recent history of travel, contact with farm animals, or outdoor bathing. A food history indicated that the 2 patients had shared an undercooked ground beef burger 4–5 days before symptom onset. The patients’ parents also ate burgers from the same package (box); they did not report any gastrointestinal symptoms.

And they found the same bug in a leftover frozen burger.

STEC serotype O123:H– has been isolated from feces of healthy lambs and sheep in Spain and in southwestern Australia and is considered to be among the predominant ovine STEC serotypes in these countries.

This family outbreak shows that STEC serotype O123:H–, albeit rarely described as causing human illness, can cause severe human infection. This serotype can also cause clusters of STEC infections and be transmitted by ingestion of undercooked ground beef.