Travel, sprouts (the raw kind) and reptiles significant sources of Salmonella in Ontario

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Douglas Powell

Former hockey buddy and nice veterinarian Scott McEwen at the University of Guelph (that’s in Ontario, Canada) is one of the authors of a paper investigating Salmonella Heidelberg and Salmonella Typhimurium role in human salmonellosis in Ontario. Introduction of the Ontario Investigation Tools (OIT) in 2014 allowed for standardized case investigation and reporting. This study compared the risk factors and symptomatology for sporadic S. Heidelberg and S. Typhimurium cases reported in Ontario in 2015, following implementation of the OIT.

Multilevel logistic regression models were applied to assess associations between serotype and individual‐level demographic characteristics, exposures and symptoms for sporadic confirmed cases of S. Heidelberg and S. Typhimurium in Ontario in 2015. There were 476 sporadic cases of S. Typhimurium (n = 278) and S. Heidelberg (n = 198) reported in Ontario in 2015. There were significant associations between the odds of the isolate from a case being one of these serotypes, and travel, consumption of sprouts (any type), contact with reptiles and development of malaise, fever or bloody diarrhoea.

The S. Typhimurium and S. Heidelberg cases differed in both symptom presentation and risk factors for illness. Case–case comparisons of Salmonella serotypes have some advantages over case–control studies in that these are less susceptible to selection and recall bias while allowing for rapid comparison of cases to identify potential high‐risk exposures that are unique to one of the serotypes when compared to the other.

Comparing cases of two different Salmonella serotypes can help to highlight risk factors that may be uniquely associated with one serotype, or more strongly associated with one serotype compared to another. This information may be useful for understanding relative source attribution between common serotypes of Salmonella.

A case-case study comparing the individual risk factors and symptomatology of salmonella Heidelberg and salmonella typhimurium in Ontario, 04 May 2020

Zoonoses and Public Health

Katherine Paphitis, David L. Pearl, Olaf Berke, Scott A. McEwen, Lise Trotz‐Williams

https://doi.org/10.1111/zph.12709

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/zph.12709?af=R

Raw milk cheese still risky – even in France

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Douglas Powell

Raw milk cheeses are commonly consumed in France and are also a common source of foodborne outbreaks (FBOs). Both a FBO surveillance system and a laboratory-based surveillance system aim to detect Salmonella outbreaks.

In early August 2018 5 familial FBOs due to Salmonella spp. were reported to a regional health authority. Investigation identified common exposure to a raw goats’ milk cheese, from which Salmonella spp. were also isolated, leading to an international product recall. Three weeks later, on 22 August, a national increase in Salmonella Newport ST118 was detected through laboratory surveillance. Concomitantly isolates from the earlier familial clusters were confirmed as S. Newport ST118. Interviews with a selection of the laboratory identified cases revealed exposure to the same cheese, including exposure to batches not included in the previous recall, leading to an expansion of the recall. The outbreak affected 153 cases, including 6 cases in Scotland. S. Newport was detected in the cheese and in milk of one of the producer’s goats.

The difference in the two alerts generated by this outbreak highlight the timeliness of the FBO system and the precision of the laboratory-based surveillance system. It is also a reminder of the risks associated with raw milk cheeses.

Outbreak of salmonella Newport associated with internationally distributed raw goats’ milk cheese, France, 2018, 04 May 2020

Epidemiology & Infection pp.1-23

Robinson^(a1)^(a2), M. Travanut ^(a3), L. Fabre ^(a4), S. Larréché ^(a5), L. Ramelli ^(a6), L. Pascal ^(a6), A. Guinard ^(a7), N. Vincent ^(a8), C. Calba ^(a8), L. Meurice ^(a9), MA. Le Thien ^(a10), E. Fourgere ^(a10), G. Jones ^(a1), N. Fournet ^(a1), A. Smith Palmer ^(a11), D. Brown ^(a12), S. Le Hello ^(a4), M. Pardos de la Gandara ^(a4), FX. Weill ^(a4) and N. Jourdan Da Silva ^(a

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268820000904

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-infection/article/outbreak-of-salmonella-newport-associated-with-internationally-distributed-raw-goats-milk-cheese-france-2018/528E4E70FB25CDBB293627227740E39D
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166 sick: Over half under 5 from Salmonella in pet bearded dragons

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Douglas Powell

Reptiles are one of the fastest growing sectors in the United States pet industry. Reptile-associated salmonellosis (RAS) continues to be an important public health problem, especially among children.

We investigated an outbreak of human Salmonella infections resulting from serotypes Cotham and Kisarawe, predominately occurring among children. An outbreak of illnesses was identified in persons with exposure to pet bearded dragon lizards. Human and animal health officials, in cooperation with the pet industry, conducted epidemiologic, traceback and laboratory investigations. Onsite sampling was conducted at two US breeding facilities, one foreign breeding facility, and a large pet retail chain. A total of 166 patients in 36 states were identified with illness onset dates from 02/2012-06/2014. The median patient age was 3 years (range, <1-79 years), 57% were aged ≤5 years, and 37% were aged ≤1 year. Forty-four patients (37%) were hospitalized, predominantly children. Sampling at breeding facilities and a national pet store chain resulted in isolation of outbreak serotypes at each facility; isolation proportions ranged from 2%-24% of samples collected at each facility.

Epidemiologic, microbiologic and traceback evidence linked an outbreak of uncommon Salmonella serotypes to contact with pet bearded dragons. The high proportion of infants involved in this outbreak highlights the need to educate owners about the risk of RAS in children and the potential for household contamination by pet reptiles or their habitats. Strategies should be developed to improve breeding practices, biosecurity and monitoring protocols to reduce Salmonella in the pet reptile trade.

Outbreak of human infections with uncommon salmonella serotypes linked to pet beareded dragons, 2012-2014, 18 April 2020

Zoonoses Public Health

Kiebler CA¹, Bottichio L¹, Simmons L¹, Basler C¹, Klos R², Gurfield N³, Roberts E⁴, Kimura A⁴, Lewis LS⁵, Bird K⁵, Stiles F⁵, Schlater LK⁶, Lantz K⁶, Edling T⁷, Barton Behravesh C¹.

doi: 10.1111/zph.12701

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32304287

You think that chicken is done? It’s not done (or it’s burnt)

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Douglas Powell

About one third of foodborne illness outbreaks in Europe are acquired in the home and eating undercooked poultry is among consumption practices associated with illness. The aim of this study was to investigate whether actual and recommended practices for monitoring chicken doneness are safe.

Seventy-five European households from five European countries were interviewed and videoed while cooking chicken in their private kitchens, including young single men, families with infants/in pregnancy and elderly over seventy years. A cross-national web-survey collected cooking practices for chicken from 3969 households. In a laboratory kitchen, chicken breast fillets were injected with cocktails of Salmonella and Campylobacter and cooked to core temperatures between 55 and 70°C. Microbial survival in the core and surface of the meat were determined. In a parallel experiment, core colour, colour of juice and texture were recorded. Finally, a range of cooking thermometers from the consumer market were evaluated.

The field study identified nine practical approaches for deciding if the chicken was properly cooked. Among these, checking the colour of the meat was commonly used and perceived as a way of mitigating risks among the consumers. Meanwhile, chicken was perceived as hedonically vulnerable to long cooking time. The quantitative survey revealed that households prevalently check cooking status from the inside colour (49.6%) and/or inside texture (39.2%) of the meat. Young men rely more often on the outside colour of the meat (34.7%) and less often on the juices (16.5%) than the elderly (>65 years old; 25.8% and 24.6%, respectively). The lab study showed that colour change of chicken meat happened below 60°C, corresponding to less than 3 log reduction of Salmonella and Campylobacter. At a core temperature of 70°C, pathogens survived on the fillet surface not in contact with the frying pan. No correlation between meat texture and microbial inactivation was found. A minority of respondents used a food thermometer, and a challenge with cooking thermometers for home use was long response time. In conclusion, the recommendations from the authorities on monitoring doneness of chicken and current consumer practices do not ensure reduction of pathogens to safe levels. For the domestic cook, determining doneness is both a question of avoiding potential harm and achieving a pleasurable meal. It is discussed how lack of an easy “rule-of-thumb” or tools to check safe cooking at consumer level, as well as national differences in contamination levels, food culture and economy make it difficult to develop international recommendations that are both safe and easily implemented.

Cooking chicken at home: common or recommended approaches to judge doneness may not assure sufficient inactivation of pathogens, 29 April 2020

PLOS One

Solveig Langsrud, Oddvin Sørheim, Silje Elisabeth Skuland, Valérie Lengard Almli, Merete Rusås Jensen, Magnhild Seim Grøvlen, Øydis Ueland, Trond Møretrø

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230928

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230928

Salmonella in poop on produce

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Douglas Powell

Heightened concerns about wildlife on produce farms and possible introduction of pathogens to the food supply have resulted in required actions following intrusion events. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the survival of Salmonella in feces from cattle and various wild animals (feral pigs, waterfowl, deer, and raccoons) in California, Delaware, Florida, and Ohio.

Feces were inoculated with rifampin-resistant Salmonella enterica cocktails that included six serotypes: Typhimurium, Montevideo, Anatum, Javiana, Braenderup, and Newport (104 to 106 CFU/g). Fecal samples were stored at ambient temperature. Populations were enumerated for up to 1 year (364 days) by spread plating onto tryptic soy agar supplemented with rifampin. When no colonies were detected, samples were enriched. Colonies were banked on various sampling days based on availability of serotyping in each state. During the 364-day storage period, Salmonella populations decreased to ≤2.0 log CFU/g by day 84 in pig, waterfowl, and raccoon feces from all states. Salmonella populations in cattle and deer feces were 3.3 to 6.1 log CFU/g on day 336 or 364; however, in Ohio Salmonella was not detected after 120 days. Salmonella serotypes Anatum, Braenderup, and Javiana were the predominant serotypes throughout the storage period in all animal feces and states. Determination of appropriate risk mitigation strategies following animal intrusions can improve our understanding of pathogen survival in animal feces.

Survival of salmonella in various wild animal feces that may contaminate produce, 01 April 2020

Journal of Food Protection

Topalcengiz Z^1,2, Spanninger PM³, Jeamsripong S^4,5, Persad AK^6,7, Buchanan RL⁸, Saha J², LeJEUNE J⁷, Jay-Russell MT^4,9, Kniel KE³, Danyluk MD².

DOI:10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-19-302

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32221570

(Oh, and I have a young lady who comes over every week for musical therapy, and we’ve been going through my greatest hits of the 1960s and 70s, so I just post whatever video I want now. Freedom of the press belongs to whoever owns one.)

Careful with the Salmonella if you eat rattlesnake meat

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Douglas Powell

Salmonella foodborne infections have been well described. Cardiac complications of Salmonella, including Infective Endocarditis (IE) however are very rare.

Case

50-year-old Hispanic male presented with chest pain, fever & septic shock. Troponin & ECG were unremarkable. Patient was started on empiric antibiotics. Blood cultures grew Salmonella species serotype H&O. TEE confirmed aortic valve vegetation.

Decision-making

Patient denied contact with feces-contaminated food or water with no obvious source of infection and negative immunodeficiency work-up. Therefore, we started looking for other sources of infection. Upon further history taking, patient was found to be regularly consuming dried rattlesnake meat preparations, a rather common practice in the Chihuahua desert region. Surgery was not indicated, and patient was treated with 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics.

Conclusion

Ingestion of rattlesnake meat has been previously studied in populations residing in the United States- Mexico border region. Few case reports have shown a link between consuming rattlesnake meat with Salmonella bacteremia. We are describing a unique case of Salmonella IE in a patient ingesting rattlesnake meat. This case presents an opportunity for physicians to recognize rare sources of IE by looking deep into cultural exposures and practices.

Slither into the heart: Salmonella endocarditis following rattlesnake meat ingestion

Journal of the American College of Cardiology vol. 75 no. 11

Kunal Mishra, Cameron Cu, Mehran Abolbashari, Jorge D. Guerra, Sclaudia Didia, Chandra Prakash Ojha and Haider Alkhateeb

DOI: 10.1016/S0735-1097(20)33595-6

http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/75/11_Supplement_1/2968

Wife’s heartbreak as husband dies from Salmonella linked to duck eggs

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Douglas Powell

A wife has been left heartbroken after her “loving and caring” husband died from salmonella linked to duck eggs he bought at Messingham Show.

Jamie Waller of Grimsby Live reports Niptoon Tavakoli was hospitalised days after eating the eggs and died after two months in intensive care.

He bought six duck eggs at Messingham Show on June 2, and ate four of them five days later.

Niptoon was among thousands of people who attended the 114th Messingham show last year, one of the biggest events of its kind in northern Lincolnshire.

But after eating the eggs Niptoon suffered with sickness and diarrhea and an ambulance was called to his home in Lindholme near Doncaster on June 7. It was decided not to take him to hospital.

But paramedics were again called on June 10, and Niptoon was taken into Doncaster Royal Infirmary where doctors found evidence of salmonella.

He was admitted to intensive care, but his condition continued to deteriorate.

He died on August 12, just over two months later.

A second case of salmonella from the same strain has since been confirmed in the West Midlands.

Niptoon’s wife Cheryl has called for answers into how he contracted the salmonella as an inquest into her husband’s death opens. Niptoon was stepdad to Cheryl’s two sons Andrew and Paul.

13 sick: Salmonella outbreak in France linked to raw milk cheese

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Douglas Powell

Outbreak News Today reports that since November 2019, Public Health France reports investigating 13 cases of salmonellosis caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Dublin (S. Dublin) reported by the National Reference Center (CNR) of Salmonella (Institut Pasteur) due to the fact that the strains belong to the same genomic cluster.

The outbreak has been linked to the consumption of raw milk Morbier (cheese), purchased from different brands, health officials note.

The cases are spread over 7 regions of the country. Three cases died, though its not clear if the salmonellosis attributed to the deaths.

The analysis by the Directorate General of Food (DGAL) of cheese purchases from case loyalty cards made it possible to identify that the Morbiers bought by the cases came from the same supplier.

The function of new microRNAs identified in Salmonella and Shigella infections

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Douglas Powell

I had this prof back in my undergraduate genetics days who prayed at the church of RNA.

He may have been right.

He was an asshole.

MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules that do not code for proteins, however, they take care of an essential function: they act as regulators in gene expression, and so they have become a focus of attention for medical science. Despite there being thousands of different sequences of this genetic material, the individual role that each one plays in several illnesses continues to be unknown for the most part.

Recently, research done at the University of Cordoba, among other places, and published in Nature Microbiology, was able to determine the specific function of certain microRNAs in Salmonella Typhimurium and Shigella flexneri infections. These are two similar bacteria that are passed on to humans upon ingesting food or water infected by people or animals with the disease.

These are two intracellular pathogens that invade healthy cells and cause similar symptoms. Nevertheless, in spite of their many similarities, the results show that infections from these two bacteria are controlled by different microRNAs that have a radically opposite function.

In order to come to this conclusion, an array of over 1,400 different microRNAs were studied individually so as to verify what effect they produce in cells upon being infected by these two bacteria, explains University of Cordoba Genetics Department researcher Sara Zaldívar.

In the case of Shigella, the results show that upon infection, three specific kinds of microRNA silence the expression of the gene responsible for spreading the bacteria within the infected organism by means of filaments called filopodia. This is an immune response mechanism of the infected organism that, as a result, lessens the bacteria’s movement.

In the case of Salmonella, almost the opposite occurs. Once the cell is infected, a kind of microRNA activates the expression of a gene responsible for the bacteria reproducing. This is the pathogen’s attack mechanism in order to reproduce, something that was not only demonstrated in the laboratory but also was corroborated in vivo in pig intestinal mucosa.

The results show two mechanisms of how microRNAs act in completely different ways and that were not described ever before. While in some infections, such as Shigella, these small molecules of genetic material perform a function in the immune response of the infected organism, in others, like Salmonella, they are part of the strategies developed by the bacterium to benefit itself in order to reproduce.

One of the main takeaways from the research, as pointed out by another author, Professor Juan José Garrido, is the need to understand the specific response mechanisms of each pathogen so as to not err by extrapolating treatment. “If we do not know exactly how microRNA regulation works, then we are blindly assigning treatment and we will end up haphazardly using a wide range of antibiotics that build up resistance to the bacteria”, says the researcher. “In our laboratory alone”, adds Sara Zaldívar, “we have strains of Salmonella that have built up resistance to 14 different antibiotics”. For this reason, knowing about the mechanisms of each pathogen in particular is key to developing more effective drugs by means of searching for target genes involved in the process.

Raw eggs a potential problem in Spaghetti alla carbonara

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Douglas Powell

Spaghetti alla carbonara is a traditional Italian dish, which the sauce made of raw egg yolks is heated using only the heat of cooked pasta. Concerns about the safety of this preparation have been raised due the possibility of egg yolks be contaminated by Salmonella and the heat treatment may not be sufficient for total Salmonella inactivation.

This study was undertaken to analyze the survival of Salmonella in spaghetti alla carbonara in which the only thermal processing of egg yolks was the heat transfer from the pasta. A pool of Salmonella was inoculated in egg yolks reaching 8.8 log₁₀ CFU/g. Contaminated egg yolks were added to the cooked spaghetti, away from the heat source. Results indicated that immediately after cooking and draining, the pasta reached 86.0 °C. After 4.5 min of contact with the egg yolks, the mean temperature of spaghetti alla carbonara decreased to lower than 60 °C. The preparation method was able to inactivate approximately 4.7 log₁₀ CFU/g of Salmonella and the spaghetti alla carbonara processed by this method had a creamy and silky sauce formed by yolks. Based on the results, it should be advisable the use of thermo-processed eggs to ensure the safety of this preparation.

Survival of Salmonella in spaghetti alla carbonara

LWT

Stefani Machado Lopes and Eduardo Cesar Tondo

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2020.109115

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0023643820301031

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