Tag Archives: Risk Communication

Size does not matter: 21 sick from Salmonella linked to pet turtles

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I want a new drug, or approach or message, rather than CDC sending out yet another warning about yet another Salmonella outbreak from kids kissing their pet turtles.

(And I can’t believe I’m quoting Huey Lewis and the News, one of my 1982 university room mates’ favorite bands, along with Hall and Oates).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports:

21 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg have been reported from 13 states.

7 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported.

Epidemiologic and traceback evidence indicate that contact with pet turtles is the likely source of this outbreak.

In interviews, 12 (71%) of 17 ill people reported contact with a turtle.

This investigation is ongoing and CDC will provide updates when more information is available.

Turtles can carry Salmonella germs in their droppings while appearing healthy and clean. These germs can easily spread to their bodies, tank water, and habitats. People can get sick after they touch a turtle or anything in their habitats.

People who own or come in contact with turtles should take steps to stay healthy around their pet:

Wash your hands.

Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching, feeding, or caring for a turtle or cleaning its habitat.

Adults should supervise handwashing for young children.

Play safely.

Don’t kiss or snuggle turtles, because this can spread Salmonella germs to your face and mouth and make you sick.

Don’t let turtles roam freely in areas where food is prepared or stored, such as kitchens.

Clean habitats, toys, and pet supplies outside the house when possible.

Avoid cleaning these items in the kitchen or any other location where food is prepared, served, or stored.

Pick the right pet for your family.

CDC and public health officials in several states are investigating a multistate outbreak of human Salmonella Oranienburg infections linked to contact with pet turtles.

Public health investigators are using the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that may be part of this outbreak. PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC. DNA fingerprinting is performed on Salmonella bacteria isolated from ill people by using a standardized laboratory and data analysis method called whole genome sequencing (WGS). CDC PulseNet manages a national database of these sequences that are used to identify possible outbreaks. WGS gives investigators detailed information about the bacteria causing illness. In this investigation, WGS showed that bacteria isolated from ill people were closely related genetically. This means that people in this outbreak are more likely to share a common source of infection.

Ill people reported contact with red-eared sliders and other turtles that were larger than four inches in length. Previous Salmonella outbreaks have been linked to turtles with a shell length less than four inches. Due to the amount of Salmonella illnesses related to these small turtles, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale and distributionexternal icon of turtles with shells less than four inches long as pets.

Regardless of where turtles are purchased or their size, turtles can carry Salmonella germs that can make people sick. Pet owners should always follow steps to stay healthy around their pet.

This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide updates when more information becomes available.

Norovirus most common foodborne pathogen in 2017

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This is the CIDRAP summary of the latest CDC number crunching on microorganisms that lead to barfing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late last week released a summary of foodborne illnesses in 2017 based on an annual analysis of data from the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, and norovirus was the most common pathogen reported, responsible for 46% of illnesses. Salmonella and Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli were also linked to a substantial number of outbreaks.  

In 2017, the CDC tracked 841 foodborne outbreaks, which included 14,481 illnesses, 827 hospitalizations, 20 deaths, and 14 food product recalls. A single etiologic agent was confirmed in 395 outbreaks (47%), which are defined as two or more related cases.

Tainted seafood and poultry were tied with causing the most outbreaks, with mollusks (41 outbreaks), fish (37), and chicken (23) the specific food items most often implicated. The most outbreak-associated illnesses were from turkey (609 illnesses), fruits (521), and chicken (487), the CDC said.

California had the most outbreaks (107), followed by Ohio (69), and Washington state (67). 

As in past years, restaurants with sit-down dining were the most commonly reported locations for food preparation associated with outbreaks (366).

The complete report is available at: https://www.cdc.gov/fdoss/pdf/2017_FoodBorneOutbreaks_508.pdf

And here:

 

9 sick from Salmonella: Not sure about source but throw out hummus

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The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) is investigating a cluster of salmonella infections in individuals who all reported eating at Moby Dick House of Kabob restaurant, which has multiple locations in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Since September 10, nine confirmed cases have been reported in Maryland. The exact cause of the infections has not been determined and the investigation is ongoing, but eight of nine cases reported consuming Moby Dick House of Kabob hummus.

At this time, Moby Dick House of Kabob has voluntarily suspended sale of hummus and MDH recommends that consumers discard hummus purchased from any Moby Dick House of Kabob. Individuals who have recently eaten food from Moby Dick House of Kabob and are experiencing any adverse medical symptoms should seek medical attention.

Next up: 200 sickened from Salmonella in tartar sauce causes outbreak in Belgian hotel school

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Fresh tartar sauce is the source of the salmonella outbreak in the Bruges hotel school Spermalie in early September.

EN 24 News reports on Friday Sept. 6 and the following days, 200 pupils and teachers fell ill at the Spermalie hotel and tourism school in Bruges. Laboratory testing of stool languages ​​soon showed that Spermalie was affected by an outbreak of salmonella. The samples of the meals that were served in the school restaurant were then analyzed. An online survey of students and teachers was also launched to find out who had eaten what in which restaurant.

“All these elements together make us decide that the tartar sauce and perhaps more specifically the eggs used are at the source of this outbreak. Further research and typing of the salmonella strains will bring even more clarity on this, “says Liesbeth Van de Voorde, spokesperson for the FASFC food agency.

4 sick: Salmonella outbreak at local kindergarten in Latvia

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The Baltic Times reports the Sigulda Regional Council turned to the State Police (VP) about the infection of four kindergarten children with salmonella, Sindija Brikmane, deputy head of the Public Relations Department of Sigulda Municipality, informed LETA.

Investigating the causes of the disease, the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC) has received information from a laboratory that four children from local kindergartens in Sigulda Region have been diagnosed with the salmonella bacterium.

The municipality has previously announced that if the responsible authorities confirm that the caterer is guilty of causing the disease, the municipality will immediately terminate the contract with SIA Baltic Restaurants Latvia.

The Sigulda Regional Council promises to continue to monitor the inspection services and inform the public and the parents of the children about the current situation and the results of the bacterial samples taken.

Creepy metaphor: UK children ‘dropped like flies’ after suspected Norovirus outbreak at school

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I don’t cover all the norovirus outbreaks because there are far too many: but I do cover the unique and unintentionally sardonic.

Bethany Whymark of the Eastern Daily Press reports a primary school where scores of children are believed to have been struck down with norovirus has declined to confirm or deny whether an outbreak took place.

Of course not. They’re British.

Parents at Norwich Primary Academy say an outbreak of the vomiting bug at the end of last week caused dozens of children to fall ill.

One parent claimed almost a quarter of the school’s 350 pupils were absent at the end of last week and questioned why the school had not been closed.

Norwich Primary Academy did not confirm or deny whether any cases of norovirus has been reported, saying it could not comment on individual cases, but added that it took pupil health seriously and followed all relevant health protection guidelines.

Uh-huh.

One parent, whose children are in year one and year three at Norwich Primary Academy, said a group social media chat for parents at the school has reportedly been awash with talk of children and other family members falling victim to sickness and diarrhea.

“It is speculation from the teachers at the moment,” she said.

“There were 18 children in a year one class out of 30 on Friday morning and 10 on Friday afternoon. The children are dropping like flies.”

Lord of the Flies.

UK factory put uncooked sausage in pre-packed sandwiches posing ‘danger to health’

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James Cain of The Mirror reports a factory has been ordered to stop making food after it put uncooked sausages into pre-packed sandwiches.

The Middlesbrough-based factory has been told by health authorities it risked causing a listeria outbreak.

Café Class Ltd has been served with a hygiene emergency prohibition order for food safety practices that posed an “immediate danger to human health”.

A court this week heard how the company extended the use-by dates of boiled eggs, cheddar cheese and streaky bacon, putting consumers’ health at risk.

The risk to the public was so severe that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued an immediate product recall on sandwiches, wraps and salads made by the company.

Listeria has been in the spotlight this year after six people died after getting listeria from prepackaged sandwiches and salads served in UK hospitals.

In the unrelated case the company, which traded with stores including Londis, Nisa and North East Convenience Stores, faced court as Middlesbrough Council sought an emergency hygiene order to prevent it from making food, reports the Local Demoracy Reporting service for Teesside Live .

Company directors Shahid Nawaz and Mohammed Haris Abdullah arrived at Teesside Magistrates’ Court yesterday to hear Middlesbrough Council lay out the case against their company.

Andrew Perriman, prosecuting for the council , told magistrates that Café Class, based in Riverside Park, was visited by environmental health officers on September 9.

The inspection was arranged “to assess compliance with a hygiene improvement notice served earlier in the year as a result of allergy management concerns”.

But Mr Perriman said the officers were shocked to discover the factory was routinely placing ingredients on their use-by date in sandwiches, wraps and salads which would then be labelled with a four-day use-by date.

“In respect of cooked ham aspect used in the final product, it is specified by the manufacturer to be used within three days once opened,” said Mr Perriman.

But the officers found that once opened, the ham had been placed in a plastic container on September 8 and labelled with a use-by date of September 11.

Mr Perriman said it could be argued that if September 8 is counted as day one, this actually meant the ham was being used for four days.

In any case, the factory would continue to use the ham as an ingredient right up until the final use-by day.

But Mr Perriman added: “It was then placed into a sandwich and given a further four-day use by date.

“Not only that, the packaging on the final product stated ‘once opened consume within 24 hours’.

He said this practice meant cooked ham with a use-by date of September 10 or 11 was actually being used in a product labelled with a use-by date of September 15 or 16.

“As a result, the three-day shelf life is exceeded by a further six days,” he said adding that this was “way past” safe limits.The company’s website says: “We here at Café Class carefully ensure that the standards of Food Agency are met at all times and any waste is disposed of appropriately.

“All our products are fully cooked but we do not send the food waste to landfill sites, thus helping the environment and fulfilling our responsibility towards the society.”

Uh huh.

Yes Minister: Dozens of people stricken by Salmonella-infected British eggs

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Dozens of people have been poisoned after consuming British eggs contaminated with salmonella, an investigation has found, despite recent government assurances that the risk had been virtually eliminated.

Andrew Wasley of The Guardian reports at least 45 consumers have fallen ill since January this year in a major disease outbreak health officials have traced back to contaminated eggs and poultry farms.

Despite outbreaks of this strain occurring for more than three years, the government has issued no public warnings about the safety of hens’ eggs. In 2017, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) told the public that it was safe for vulnerable people, including pregnant women and the elderly to eat raw, runny or soft-boiled eggs. At the time the head of the FSA said: “The risk of salmonella is now so low you needn’t worry.”

Internal records obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Guardian show that 25 egg-laying poultry flocks in the UK have tested positive for salmonella in 2019 so far, seven of them contaminated with the most serious strains of the bacteria. Two egg-packing factories – one that supplies leading supermarkets – have also been contaminated, records show.

Eggs produced by the infected poultry flocks were placed under restrictions, meaning they cannot be sold to the public and must be sent for processing to kill the bacteria or be disposed of – while birds from infected flocks were culled.

However, some contaminated eggs did reach the public, with PHE confirming that 45 people had become ill after eating eggs infected with salmonella since January. The exact route to the public is unclear.

The government records also reveal that in 2018, 28 flocks tested positive for salmonella, four of them with dangerous strains.

According to PHE a further 55 human cases prior to 2019 were also being linked to the outbreak.

The revelations come just two years after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) declared that almost all eggs produced in the UK were free of salmonella. A major health scare in the 1980s had led to warnings that vulnerable groups should not consume raw or lightly cooked eggs – or food containing them – because of the salmonella risk. The then junior health minister Edwina Currie sparked a public outcry after saying “most” British egg production was infected with salmonella.

But in 2017 the FSA lifted the advice, stating the presence of salmonella in eggs had been “dramatically reduced” and that “British Lion” eggs – which cover about 90% of UK egg production – were safe to eat.

Speaking at the time, the then FSA chair Heather Hancock said: “We are now saying if there is a British Lion egg, you’re safe to do that. The risk of salmonella is now so low you needn’t worry. And that’s true whether you’re a fit healthy adult, or whether you’re pregnant or elderly or young. It’s only people on strictly medically supervised diets who need to avoid those eggs.”

PHE stated that it had been investigating this strain of salmonella for three years, despite the FSA clearing eggs for consumption.

The British Retail Consortium said: “Food safety remains a top priority for UK retailers and all UK sourced eggs are produced to the Lion code of practice. Retailers will comprehensively investigate any safety issues in our food supply and will take swift action as necessary.”

Uh-huh.

But we have training and audits: Dirty crates and vans used to deliver food by Asda

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Assif Majid of BBC News writes that Watchdog’s reporter was given no training on keeping delivery crates and vans clean.

The reporter witnessed spillages, but was told by senior drivers that there was no need to clear it up during the delivery round.

Asda says it has a “clean as you go” policy and staff get full training.

Both Asda employees and customers have contacted the consumer programme with allegations about the cleanliness of the store’s delivery crates.

One driver told the programme: “There’s no cleaning process in place. The crates are used over and over again, even after spillages. Most, if not all, are dirty, from food, and things like smashed eggs.”

Another driver told the programme they are so concerned about poor hygiene, they are worried about their own family eating food from the crates.

Asda said the findings were “isolated examples and the opinion of individual colleagues”.

It added: “The findings do not reflect the extensive policies and training they have in place, which are supported by independent third party audits.”

The supermarket also says Watchdog’s researcher did not receive the full role-specific training because he didn’t do enough shifts.

Chartered environmental health practitioner Barrie Trevena said: “Even if the food you’re putting in is wrapped, the packages then become contaminated and then when the customer handles the cans and the packages, then that’s going to contaminate their worktop and fridge.”

The company said it delivered almost half a million orders each week, using their totes more than 2.5 million times, and it was inaccurate and misleading to suggest that it did not have policies or training in place at a business level.

Inconceivable.

How a frozen meringue led Australian investigators to the source of a potent Salmonella outbreak

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Jess Davis of ABC News reports a frozen meringue was key to identifying and outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis (SE), a bacteria that until last year was not found in Australia, that sickened almost 200 people.

People first started getting sick in May 2018 and by July a cluster of cases had appeared in New South Wales. That was when health authorities started investigating.

“Health, through their investigations, were able to look at a number of isolates of Salmonella enteritidis that came from humans, who unfortunately had been ill, and use a technology called whole genome sequencing,” said NSW Food Authority CEO Lisa Szabo.

“So it’s a genetic-based technology that helps us join the dots, shall I say. And this was the first time they could see a group of people with the same whole genome sequence.”

Anyone with a confirmed case of SE was interviewed by investigators and asked for a detailed account of what they’d eaten — to try to find what the different cases had in common.

A few weeks after being interviewed, one of those people remembered they had a frozen meringue cake in their freezer, leftover from a birthday party, around the time they got sick.

Officers went to that person’s home, collected the cake and had it tested.

“We were able to isolate the Salmonella enteritidis and it had that same whole genome sequence. At the same time we could see who manufactured that cake,” Ms Szabo said.

“We could go back to the manufacturer, have a look at their environment, look at how they handle food and where they get their ingredients from, and that’s where we saw the connection to the egg farm.”

It wasn’t until September that the frozen meringue led investigators to a farm on the outskirts of Sydney, but by then the bacteria had slowly started spreading across the industry.

“Once we detected salmonella enteritidis on this particular farm, we then commenced another round of investigations … more from the biosecurity and then the farm side of trying to understand … [whether the] farm had other connections to other properties around the state” Ms Szabo said.

But how the bacteria made its way into Australian eggs in the first place is likely to remain a mystery.

One property in Victoria and 13 in NSW have been affected so far and more than half-a-million birds have been culled at a cost of $10 million.

The spread of SE has been blamed largely on the interconnected nature of the egg industry, with all the infected farms connected in some way.

Egg farmers often trade produce with each other, and equipment and workers also regularly move from farm to farm.

Veterinarian Rod Jenner said SE was difficult to contain because it could survive and multiply without a host and could live in the environment for up to two years.

“It can survive in dust and dirt, in vehicles, and can travel in the wind. Rodents, wild birds, that sort of thing, can carry it on their skin or in their bodies as well,” he said.

“So it has actually been demonstrated to travel vast distances and be contaminated, be deposited on other farms that have previously been free.”

A farmer’s worst nightmareBede Burke’s egg farm at Tamworth in NSW was the 11th property to be infected, with a notification it had tested positive to SE during a routine check just over three months ago.

“Your whole world crashes down around you, you know,” Mr Burke said.

“We just didn’t sleep for a week and that first seven or eight days was really traumatic. We had to learn how to both decontaminate and disinfect the premises.”

When the notification came through on the eve of the federal election, Mr Burke had to withhold his eggs from sale and was faced with the prospect of culling entire flocks.

“But then you’ve got heap of eggs on your premises, you can’t not stop packing eggs, we were still going to pack 90,000 eggs a day,” he said.

“It’s just stress beyond all belief and then start planning for the worst.”

But he was lucky the contamination was picked up early and while a swab of dirt and dust had tested positive, it hadn’t yet spread to his egg or birds.

There have been no confirmed cases of SE since June and the industry hopes that will be the end of it.

But the outbreak has raised serious questions about how biosecurity is managed. Despite the disease becoming a national problem, its enforcement and regulation is state-based.

Philip Szepe, who runs an egg farm at Kinglake in Victoria, tests for all strains of salmonella every three months.

But he’s concerned that not all farmers are as diligent and said biosecurity was too reliant on self-regulation.

“Government’s really good at responding to crisis. It’d be great if the Government had a bit more engagement with the industry around monitoring, surveillance and compliance,” he said.