Tag Archives: livestock

11 sick: E. coli O157 outbreak linked to Minnesota state fair

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The Minnesota State Fair has been connected to an outbreak of an E. coli strain, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

To date, disease doctors have identified 11 cases of E. coli 0157 among Minnesotans who were at the State Fair between Aug. 25 and Sept. 2. All of them fell ill between Aug. 29 and Sept. 6.

Ages of those sickened range from 2 to 43 years old. Six of the cases required the patient to be hospitalized, including one person developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, which the MDH says is a potentially fatal complication.

One person is still in a hospital being treated.

Investigators are working to determine the source of the outbreak, with evidence so far indicating that it most likely began with contact with livestock.

Most of the 11 patients visited the Miracle of Birth exhibit and made physical contact with calves, goats, sheep or piglets, but others suffering from the E. coli strain did not make direct contact with animals, leading the MDH to consider the possibility that those people made contact with contaminated surfaces.

“This serves as a strong reminder to always wash your hands after being around livestock and their enclosures,” the MDH says.

Fortunately, there is “little chance” of ongoing exposure to the strain since the fair has ended.

Erdozain G, Kukanich K, Chapman B, Powell D. 2012. Observation of public health risk behaviours, risk communication and hand hygiene at Kansas and Missouri petting zoos – 2010-2011. Zoonoses Public Health. 2012 Jul 30. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01531.x.

Observation of public health risk behaviors, risk communication and hand hygiene at Kansas and Missouri petting zoos – 2010-2011Outbreaks of human illness have been linked to visiting settings with animal contact throughout developed countries. This paper details an observational study of hand hygiene tool availability and recommendations; frequency of risky behavior; and, handwashing attempts by visitors in Kansas (9) and Missouri (4), U.S., petting zoos.

Handwashing signs and hand hygiene stations were available at the exit of animal-contact areas in 10/13 and 8/13 petting zoos respectively. Risky behaviors were observed being performed at all petting zoos by at least one visitor. Frequently observed behaviors were: children (10/13 petting zoos) and adults (9/13 petting zoos) touching hands to face within animal-contact areas; animals licking children’s and adults’ hands (7/13 and 4/13 petting zoos, respectively); and children and adults drinking within animal-contact areas (5/13 petting zoos each). Of 574 visitors observed for hand hygiene when exiting animal-contact areas, 37% (n=214) of individuals attempted some type of hand hygiene, with male adults, female adults, and children attempting at similar rates (32%, 40%, and 37% respectively). Visitors were 4.8x more likely to wash their hands when a staff member was present within or at the exit to the animal-contact area (136/231, 59%) than when no staff member was present (78/343, 23%; p<0.001, OR=4.863, 95% C.I.=3.380-6.998). Visitors at zoos with a fence as a partial barrier to human-animal contact were 2.3x more likely to wash their hands (188/460, 40.9%) than visitors allowed to enter the animals’ yard for contact (26/114, 22.8%; p<0.001, OR= 2.339, 95% CI= 1.454-3.763).

Inconsistencies existed in tool availability, signage, and supervision of animal-contact. Risk communication was poor, with few petting zoos outlining risks associated with animal-contact, or providing recommendations for precautions to be taken to reduce these risks.

 

Rise of the machines: Tools to know if Salmonella will hit your livestock

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Increasingly, routine surveillance and monitoring of foodborne pathogens using whole-genome sequencing is creating opportunities to study foodborne illness epidemiology beyond routine outbreak investigations and case–control studies.

Using a global phylogeny of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium, we found that major livestock sources of the pathogen in the United States can be predicted through whole-genome sequencing data. Relatively steady rates of sequence divergence in livestock lineages enabled the inference of their recent origins.

Elevated accumulation of lineage-specific pseudogenes after divergence from generalist populations and possible metabolic acclimation in a representative swine isolate indicates possible emergence of host adaptation.

We developed and retrospectively applied a machine learning Random Forest classifier for genomic source prediction of Salmonella Typhimurium that correctly attributed 7 of 8 major zoonotic outbreaks in the United States during 1998–2013. We further identified 50 key genetic features that were sufficient for robust livestock source prediction.

Zoonotic source attribution of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium using genomic surveillance data, United States

Emerging Infectious Diseases vol. 25 no. 1

Shaokang Zhang, Shaoting Li, Weidong Gu, Henk den Bakker, Dave Boxrud, Angie Taylor, Chandler Roe, Elizabeth Driebe, David M. Engelthaler, Marc Allard, Eric Brown, Patrick McDermott, Shaohua Zhao, Beau B. Bruce, Eija Trees, Patricia I. Fields, and Xiangyu Deng 

Shiga-toxin producing E. coli: Montessori school closed after 2 students hospitalized

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The Washington, Monroe Montessori School was closed Wednesday after two young children were hospitalized with E. coli.

The girls are both under the age of 5 and were hospitalized. Only one of the girls has a confirmed kidney issue called HUS, which indicates a more serious case of E. coli. Her condition has not been released.

Sixty other preschoolers and 10 staff members may have been exposed. Everyone who has been at the school since July 11 is being tested.  Test Kits will be sent to parents Thursday, and results can take about five days.

Although it is not the source of the E. coli, the school is also being sanitized.

“The exact source of contamination in E. coli can be very difficult to identify, but at this point we believe the children were likely exposed to livestock near their home,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer and director of the Health District.

Australian livestock industries in ‘favorable position’ on antibiotic use

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Australia’s first national survey suggests livestock industries have, according to the Bush Telegraph, done a relatively good job of limiting the use of antibiotics.

The survey of 2,600 samples collected through 22 veterinary laboratories around Australia shows a low level of resistance to antibiotics.

ab.use.pigs.austThe labs tested for antibiotic resistance within two types of pathogens – E. coli and Golden Staph (Staphylococcus).

The survey found no resistance to carbapenems, an antibiotic class of last resort in human medicine used against infections when other antibacterial treatments have failed.

However the study identified ‘very low’ frequencies of resistance to other critically important human antimicrobials including fluoroquinolones and 3rd generation cephalosporins.

Professor John Turnidge, senior medical adviser on the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, says “what’s encouraging is the levels of resistance to the critical antibiotics for human health are close to zero.

“In part it’s due to the fact that by good foresight, good management, or good luck about 20 years ago for one particular class of antibiotics, we made a decision at a federal level that these shouldn’t be available for use in food animals and I think we’re reaping the benefit of that now.

“I’m embarrassed to say they (livestock industries) have been doing a better job than the human side.”

Community rallies behind Oklahoma boy battling E. coli infection

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Residents in a small town in northwest Oklahoma are rallying behind a young boy, who is fighting for his life after being infected with E. coli.

State health officials in Oklahoma are investigating a spike in a deadly strain of E. coli. Eight-year-old Connor Sneary of Alva, Oklahoma, is one of oklahoma.e.coliat least a dozen people who became hospitalized.

Connor has been in the intensive care unit at OU Children’s Hospital where he remains in critical condition. As part of the treatment, he is undergoing dialysis and blood transfusions.

Connor has a form of E. coli that the family believes may have been contracted at an agricultural event at the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds. Investigators say that is a possibility.

Several organizations are hosting events benefiting Connor’s family. The Oklahoma Blood Institute will have a special blood drive in Alva on Tuesday, April 8, from noon to 6 p.m., at the First Christian Church. All donations will be credited to Connor for his use.

UN agency says surge in diseases of animal origin means new approach to health needed

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Holistic is a term academics and those on the conference circuit like to toss around when they have no idea how to actually improve things.

Or sometimes it’s just the PR types who write the fluff.

According to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, population growth, agricultural expansion, and livestockthe rise of globe-spanning food supply chains have dramatically altered how diseases emerge, jump species boundaries, and spread,

A new, more holistic approach to managing disease threats at the animal-human-environment interface is needed, it argues.

Seventy percent of the new diseases that have emerged in humans over recent decades are of animal origin and, in part, directly related to the human quest for more animal-sourced food, according to the report, World Livestock 2013: Changing Disease Landscapes.

The ongoing expansion of agricultural lands into wild areas, coupled with a worldwide boom in livestock production, means that “livestock and wildlife are more in contact with each other, and we ourselves are more in contact with animals than ever before,” said Ren Wang, FAO Assistant Director-General for Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

“What this means is that we cannot deal with human health, animal health, and ecosystem health in isolation from each other – we have to look at them together, and address the drivers of disease emergence, persistence and spread, rather than simply fighting back against diseases after they emerge,” he added.

FAO’s new study focuses in particular on how changes in the way humans raise and trade animals have affected how disease emerge and spread.

“In response to human population growth, income increases and urbanization, world food and agriculture has shifted its main focus from livestock-img01the supply of cereals as staples to providing an increasingly protein-rich diet based on livestock and fishery products,” World Livestock 2013 notes.

While livestock production provides a number of economic and nutrition benefits, the sector’s rapid growth has spawned a number of health-related challenges, it says.

The risk of animal-to-human pathogen shifts varies greatly according to the type of livestock production and the presence of basic infrastructure and services.

While intensive production systems are largely free from high-impact animal and zoonotic diseases, they do present some pitfalls, particularly in developing countries and countries in transition, according to the report.

The report also states, however, that disease emergence in livestock is not specific to large-scale, intensive systems.

Smallholder livestock systems – which tend to involve animals roaming freely over large areas, but still in relatively high densities – often facilitate the disease spread, both among local animal populations and over broad distances.