As part of the first Global Handwashing Day, students Mayra Rivarola and Skyler Wilkinson visited 11 restaurant bathrooms in Aggieville, Manhattan (Kansas) to ensure patrons were at least provided the tools to properly wash their hands.
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All of the bathrooms rated highly. Only 1-of-the-11 had a failure, a lack of paper towel.
So, wash your damn hands. And don’t eat poop.
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A Chase County boy is one of two young Kansas children who died within the past several days from E. coli infection, although the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the deaths are unrelated and were caused by different E. coli serotypes.
Funeral arrangements were being made today for Brant Burton, 4, who died Sunday in Wesley Regional Medical Center in Wichita.
An 18-month-old from Liberal, Tanner Strickland, reportedly died Wednesday in Wesley. Tanner’s brother remains in Wesley in stable condition with the same illness.
Fifty-two cases of E-coli were reported to KDHE in 2007; 33 were caused by E-coli O157:H7. Kansas’ three-year median for 2004-2006 was 48 cases. The highest rate of disease (8.8 per 100,000) was reported among children aged less than five years.
The Mayor of Liberal, Kansas, Joe Denoyer, said that 18-month-old Tanner Edgar Strickland died Wednesday at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita and his brother is listed in stable condition. The mayor says the disease is contained within the immediate family and there is no danger to the public.
Food safety culture will be the topic of a presentation by Kansas State University’s Doug Powell as part of the K-State Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology Seminar Series.
Powell, associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology and scientific director of the International Food Safety Network, will present "Pot pies, Pâté and Pregnancy: The Medium and the Messages to Create a Food Safety Culture" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, in the Practice Management Center on the fourth floor of K-State’s Trotter hall. The seminar is free and open to the public.
Powell will provide an overview on the different mediums and messages his research team has experimented with to foster a food safety culture, from farm to fork.
"From pot pies, peanut butter, deli meats and pizza to peppers, tomatoes, spinach and more: food can make people sick — a lot of people," Powell said. "The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30 percent of all citizens in developed and other countries will get sick from the food they consume each year.
"But statistics are easy to ignore," he said. "In the past month, a 26-year-old died and 206 were sickened with E. coli 0111 after eating in Locust Grove, Okla. Nineteen people have died and dozens sickened with listeria after eating deli meats in Canada. In a separate outbreak, at least seven pregnant women in Quebec have acquired listeria from cheese, leading to premature births and illness in their babies."
Powell said the challenge is to provide reliable and relevant information in a compelling manner to reduce the burden of foodborne illness.
I love Manhattan (Kansas).
People are always asking me, with a bemused, smug look, Kansas? Why would you move to Kansas?
I explain to them how Manhattan is huddled in the Flint Hills, beautiful spot, and most of the bad weather goes around Manhattan.
Not last night.
The townhouse Amy used to live in probably doesn’t exist anymore. That was one of two areas of town that got hammered by a tornado about 11 pm Central time.
ABC affiliate KTKA in Topeka captured the tornado on video as it entered Manhattan, at least until the camera on the weather tower got taken out (see below).
Cheryl May, Kansas State University’s (awesome) director of media relations extraordinaire, told CNN the storm destroyed a wind erosion lab, damaged several engineering and science buildings and tore the roof off a fraternity house at the school (right, Weber Hall, home of much of Animal Science).
"Our campus is kind of a mess."
There were no immediate reports of injuries, she said.
In an update released at 8 a.m. (CST), Tom Rawson, vice president for administration and finance, estimated storm damage at Kansas State University to exceed $20 million.
"The damage on campus is extensive. Roofs have been damaged or torn off, windows have been blown out in many buildings. Weber Hall is severely damaged. The Wind Erosion Lab is gone. There is significant damage to the engineering complex, and to Waters, Call, Cardwell and Ward Hall."
And since my students don’t seem to know, but of course read barfblog, classes are cancelled for today.
Local radio station KMAN has a complete list of known damage. People are being asked to stay away from damaged areas — and there are various unsubstantiated reports of looting.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the following food safety advice after a weather emergency:
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items after 4 hours without power.
Never taste a food to determine its safety
Drink only bottled water if flooding has occurred
Undamaged, commercially prepared foods in all-metal cans and retort pouches (for example, flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches) can be saved.
When in Doubt, Throw it Out
If you have any firsthand reports, pictures or video, send it along. Amy and I are going to start working our way home from Quebec City.
The Kansas State Collegian cited Mike Heideman, communication specialist for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, as saying that hand sanity is a good way to avoid some of the risks of getting sick.
Maybe hand sanitation.
The reporter called me and I gave her some stuff, but she eventually talked to food science MSc student and barfblogger Andrew Reece, who — fresh off his microwave cooking video — said students should pay attention to packaging labels and that using a microwave oven to cook food is not a proper substitute for a standard oven if that’s what a package calls for.
"Sometimes packaging can be really vague, and the food may seem fully cooked, but isn’t."
Additionally, students can visit foodsafety.ksu.edu and barfblog.ksu.edu for more information about food safety.
Way to plug the home team.
Joye Gordon, associate professor of journalism, said a common cause of foodborne illness locally is that students’ refrigerators are not kept cold enough, adding,
"They should keep the temperature 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Some pathogens thrive in cold temperatures."
Anyone want to comment on that?
The fans have taken to the streets 90 miles east of Manhattan (Kansas) in Lawrence, celebrating the dramatic come-from-behind-overtime KU victory over Memphis in the U.S. men’s college basketball championship tonight.
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People on TV swarming the streets in Lawrence are saying this is the happiest moment of their entire lives.
Ahem …
Being Canadian, I don’t get all the intra-state rivalry; this KU logo may draw more vigorous complaints than Honduran cantaloupes.
But I say, good for Kansas. And besides, Kansas State was one of three teams that actually beat KU this season.
Now, about that hockey arena …
A shortage of veterinarians who treat farm animals is, according to USA Today, stressing the nation’s food inspection system, prompting the federal government to offer bonuses and moving expenses to fill hundreds of vacancies.
There is a severe shortage of veterinarians who treat farm animals or work as government inspectors. The scarcity is most severe in the USA’s Farm Belt, the lightly populated rural areas in the Midwest that produce much of the nation’s meat.
Gregory Hammer, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association says,"
"We’re in a crisis situation. We don’t have enough rural veterinarians to be a first line of defense against animal diseases."
The number of vets needed will grow by 22,000 by 2016, making it one of the fastest-growing professions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
The nation’s 28 veterinarian schools produce 2,500 graduates a year, a number that hasn’t changed in three decades. Baby boomer retirements — especially among farm vets — hasten the shortage.
Ralph C. Richardson (right), dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University and all-around cool guy wrote in today’s USA Today today that
The Kansas Legislature, in concert with the veterinary college at Kansas State University, has established "The Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas" as a way to ensure an adequate number of veterinarians practicing in rural Kansas.
It allows a veterinary student to borrow $80,000 over a four-year period while in college. After graduation, $20,000 worth of educational debt is forgiven for every year up to four years that these new graduates practice in rural Kansas. This opportunity is granted to five KSU veterinary students every year.
The VTPRK allows new graduates to establish themselves in underserved areas without worrying about paying back large educational debts.
Kansas and Kansas State University are committed to keeping rural America thriving and to ensuring the safety of the urban food supply.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture is warning consumers in the Garden City area not to eat soft white cheese sold in unmarked packages because it came from an unapproved source and may be contaminated with Salmonella.
Food safety inspectors found the cheese being sold last week at Panaderia Real, 107 North Jennie Barker Road, in Garden City. The cheese was destroyed after testing confirmed that it was made from unpasteurized milk and that it was contaminated with Salmonella.
An investigation into the cheese’s origin revealed that it was being made in the home of Guadalupe Valadez, who is not licensed to manufacture food. To be licensed, Valadez would need to use a commercial kitchen to make the cheese and to undergo routine food safety inspections.
Valadez was selling the cheese to neighbors, to coworkers at Tyson Foods and to two stores, Panaderia Real on Jennie Barker Road and at Panaderia Alexis at 146 Stevens Avenue. She reports she had been making and selling the cheese for about a month.
The illegal cheese was identified during a two-month pilot project to monitor the safety of imported and domestically produced foods offered for sale in Kansas. It was launched by the Kansas Department of Agriculture late last month. ‘
Inspectors are collecting up to 10 products from each facility they visit as part of the project. Products are tested for Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli, the most common causes of foodborne illness.
It was purple madness in Manhattan (Kansas) tonight.
For the first time in 24 years, Kansas State beat number 2 ranked Kansas at home, 84-75.
I have nothing on food safety. But Amy won free tickets for the rest of the season from a draw at a local Radio Shack and this was the first college basketball game I’d ever attended.
Guess we picked a good one.
I think Bramlage Coliseum would make an excellent hockey arena.