Something may be lost in translation, but laverdad.es reports that Murcia local police are investigating what happened at a meeting of Ecuadorians on Aug. 15/12 in the La Fica fairgrounds during a celebration of the Virgin and the Swan.
Up to 82 individuals suffered from food poisoning and were seen at the Virgin of la Arrixaca, Morales Meseguer, and Reina Sofia hospitals. Thirtenn people remain hospitalized.
The incident was associated with eating beef kebabs with mayonnaise.
According to the incubation period and symptoms, the health department determined that Salmonella had caused the illness and the diagnosis was confirmed after positive culture of fecal samples.
"If you’ve got 51 cases confirmed in a lab, chances are there are hundreds out there," Public Health medical officer Dr Steven Donohue said.
In the letter, Dr Donohue instructed day care centres to exclude children with diarrhea until they have not had symptoms for 48 hours.
He also recommended that swimming pools at day care centres be disinfected with adequate chlorination or refilled after each session.
Queensland Health is also in the process of notifying swimming pool operators about the health risk, Dr Donohue said.
"We’re not blaming the pools but they are a known factor in magnifying the outbreak," he said. "The pool operators should be very careful to make sure children with diarrhoea or dirty nappies are not in pools."
In other crypto news, Artieda et al report in Eurosurveillance that on 24 November 2011, some smart pediatrician in the Basque Countr of northern Spain notified the epidemiological surveillance service of Gipuzkoa of a child with diarrhea in whose stools oocysts of Cryptosporidium had been isolated, as well as of an unusually large number of children with diarrhea who attended the same day-care center as the first child. All were tested for Cryptosporidium.
Investigators concluded that from October to December 2011, an outbreak of 26 cases of cryptosporidiosis occurred in a day-care centre in Gipuzkoa, Spain. The infection spread from person to person and affected 24 children under two years of age (attack rate: 38%) and two caregivers. Cryptosporidium oocysts were observed in 10 of 15 samples. During 2010, only four cases of cryptosporidium were detected in Gipuzkoa, and 27 overall in Spain.
At the time of the study, 63 children between 0 and two years of age attended the day-care, as well as the staff that consisted of six caregivers. There were 39 1–2-year-olds in classroom 2 (ground floor) and classrooms 3 and 4 (first floor), 13 in each. In classroom 1 (ground floor) and classrooms 5 and 6 (second floor), there were 24 0–1-year-olds, eight in each. A total of 24 children fell ill (attack rate: 38.1%), and only three of them were in the group of 0–1-year-olds. Children shared some activities by age group. Two caregivers also fell ill. In the microscopic analysis, Cryptosporidiumspp. oocysts were isolated in 10 of 15 stool samples, and no other enteropathogen was found in any of the samples studied.
In addition, an environmental investigation was also undertaken by the local public health technicians. Information on hygiene practices and water usage was collected. The investigation detected deficiencies in hygiene procedures in the day-care centre. Single use paper towels were not available in any of the risk areas.
As soon as the outbreak was confirmed, strengthening of hygiene measures was recommended to the staff of the day-care center, and they were asked to advise taking children to their pediatrician in the event of more cases. The recommended measures involved correcting the above-mentioned deficiencies, improving compliance with universal hygiene rules and, given the characteristics of the microorganism (resistance to chlorine), cleaning surfaces with 3% hydrogen peroxide. All measures recommended were implemented within 24-48 hours.
A letter was sent to the parents informing them of the outbreak and advising good hygiene practices. In addition, they were told that those with diarrhea must not to use public swimming pools or other recreational water facilities for the duration of the outbreak.
I’ve always been wary of those fresh squeezed juice places; and those infomercials where all the dirty carrots, oranges, apples and anything else are tossed in for power juice.
Scientists from the University of Valencia in Spain analyzed 190 fresh orange juice squeezed by machines in catering establishments and found that 43% of samples exceeded the acceptable level of enterobacteriaceae, 12% exceeded mesophilic aerobic microorganism levels, Staphylococcus aureus was found in 1% of samples, and salmonella was found in 0.5% of samples.
Isabel Sospedra, one of the authors of the study appearing in Food Control, warns that, "generally a percentage of oranges juice is consumed immediately after squeezing but, as in many cases, it is kept unprotected in stainless steel jugs."
The scientists found that some juices that were kept in metal jugs presented "unacceptable" levels of enterobacteriaceae in 81% of cases and in 13% of cases with regards to mesophilic aerobic bacteria. However, when the freshly squeezed juice is served in a glass, these percentages fall to 22% and 2% respectively.
“It must also be borne in mind that juicers and juicing machines have a large surface area and lots of holes and cavities. This promotes microbial contamination, which is picked up by the juice as it is being prepared."
The researchers recommend that oranges are handled correctly, that juicers are washed properly and that the orange juice is served immediately rather than being stored in metal jugs.
In 2009, Spaniards drank 138 million litres of orange juice (according to data provided by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs), 40% of which was freshly squeezed and consumed in catering establishments.
Sospedra, J. Rubert, J.M. Soriano, J. Mañes. "Incidence of microorganisms from fresh orange juice processed by squeezing machines". Food Control 23 (1): 282-285, 2012 (ya disponible on line).
Thousands of packages of cooked pigs ears produced in Spain and distributed in southern France have been recalled after testing positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
Our French friend Albert Amgar provided the link to the AFP story, and Amy translated on the way home from New Zealand this morning.
The Roussillon Salaisons company which makes pork products and prepared meals in Perpignan initiated their own recall of the products in question from the concerned stores. In cases where the product had already been sold, it is requesting that people who still have the product not eat it and either destroy it or return it for a refund.
Those who might have eaten the incriminated product and who have symptoms such as fever, with or without headache, are encouraged to consult their doctor and indicate what they have eaten.
Pregnant women must be especially attentive to these symptoms, as should be immune-depressed and elderly people.
The implicated products are 3200 vacuum-packed bags of plain cooked pigs ears and Galician style cooked pigs ears, both from the Régal Catalan brand. They were sold from July 4 in a few dozen Leader Price stores in Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, the company explained.
They come from two imported lots from Spain with the numbers 07072011and a best by date of 5 October 2011, and 27062011, best by date 25 September 2011. Roussillon Salaisons insisted that the products were made by the Spanish firm Carnes Esman and not by Roussillon Salaisons itself. Roussillon Salaison emphasized that it does make certain pork products but in this case it only sold the pigs ears.
Listeria was discovered during a routine test undertaken by a Leader Price store.
Roussillon Salaisons was alerted to the problem Friday and said that they immediately asked all the stores to pull the product from their shelves and to put up a poster to notify consumers. But the health authorities asked that the company additionally alert consumers through the media, the company explained.
The U.K. Health Protection Agency reports a link has been established between a batch of imported eggs and an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis Phage Type (PT) 14b infection in England and Wales.
Two hundred and twenty-one cases of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 14b infection have been reported since the beginning of this year, the majority of cases being in North West England (104 cases), the West Midlands (36 cases) and the East Midlands (26 cases).
Dr. Joe Kearney, an HPA director who chairs the outbreak control team (OCT), said:
"A strain of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 14b that is indistinguishable from samples taken from the human cases was isolated from a small number of eggs that had the same batch number.
"These eggs had come from a specific shed on one farm in Spain. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) alerted the Spanish authorities and measures were taken to eliminate the risk of contamination from this source, including the culling of a flock of hens, the cleaning of the shed and the heat treatment of eggs to kill salmonella.
"No eggs with the implicated batch number have been imported to this country since the end of June. The FSA alerted Environmental Health Officers throughout England and Wales to the situation and checks were made and continue to be made on the distribution chain. Whenever eggs with the implicated batch number are found in the system, these are removed from sale. In the meantime our investigations are continuing."
The World Health Organization said today the E. coli O104 responsible for a deadly outbreak that has left 18 dead and sickened hundreds in Europe is a new strain that has never been seen before.
Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E. coli bacteria, with aggressive genes that could explain why the Europe-wide outbreak appears to be so massive and dangerous, the agency said.
Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at the WHO, told The Associated Press that "this is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before."
She added that the new strain has "various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing" than the hundreds of E. coli strains that people naturally carry in their intestines.
David Tribe of Australia writes that rapid work in China has applied third generation DNA decoding technologies to decode the German outbreak disease bacterium genome. It has revealed the germ to be a hybrid (which can be described alternatively as a chimera, a true natural GMO).
The novel germ has some virulence abilities of a class of pathogenic E. coli bacteria called entero-aggregative E. coli (#EAEC). It has similarities to a bacterial strain called EAEC 55989 , which was isolated in the Central African Republic and is known to cause serious diarrhea. EAEC typically carry extra mini-chromosomes called plasmids. The German outbreak strain has the typical plasmid genes of EAEC bacteria as well as shigatoxin genes seen in EHEC germs.
The work decoding the genome done in Shenzhen, China, is a triumph of rapid genetic investigation using high-technology methods. The German outbreak strain is a new strain which has acquired specific gene sequences that have a role in pathogenicity, causing hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS).
The outbreak is already considered the third-largest involving E. coli in recent world history (as opposed to alien history? – dp), and it may be the deadliest. Twelve people died in a 1996 Japanese outbreak that reportedly sickened more than 9,000, and seven died in a 2000 Canadian outbreak.
Journalists, how hard is it to use Google? The deadliest outbreak would be Scotland in 1996 in which at least 21 died from E. coli O157 in roast beef sandwiches served at assisted living homes. The previous high was 17 at a nursing home in London, Ontario in 1985.
Amy went to France the other day and I’ve got the 1973 classic, Come Monday by Jimmy Buffett running through my head (check the video below; now that’s a moustache).
But Amy’s worried about cucumbers.
This is a photo of her airplane meal.
For a continent that prides itself on traceability and farmers’ markets, the response to the E. coli O104 outbreak, which has killed 17, stricken 470 with severe kidney disease and sickened some 1,500, has been woefully inadequate.
And now, 10 days after the outbreak emerged, the Germans say it wasn’t Spanish cucumbers in some sort of European revisionist history (they’re good at that).
Here are the top-5 dumb things about the E. coli O104 outbreak; at some point politics may take a back seat to public health; but this is Europe.
Spain’s agriculture minister Rosa Aguilar defended her country’s fresh produce and said it is still unclear exactly when and where the vegetables were contaminated.
She even tucked in to some cucumbers grown in Spain on Monday to show they cannot be blamed for one of the largest E. coli outbreaks in the world.
What no one has mentioned is the on-farm food safety steps that Spanish and other growers, distributors and retailers take to ensure microbial food safety. An outbreak this huge is an opportunity to brag – if procedures are in place. But maybe that’s why no one is bragging.
4. Terrible journalism
Why has no one tried to track down the source and looked at food safety procedures? The New York Times, 10 days into the crisis went with, Outbreak of Infections, probably the worst headline ever. E. coli O104 is not herpes. Time magazine went with, don’t panic, but be concerned.
3. It’s a trade/money thing
Contrary to humanistic goodwill, most food safety trade issues have nothing to do with public health and everything to do with market access. That’s why Gerd Sonnleitner, the head of the German Farmers’ Association (DVB), called for stronger regulation of imported vegetables and said there has been unwarranted fearmongering about German vegetable products.
“We have very strict rules over the entire chain on controlling and accepting what we think is right,” Sonnleitner said. “Unfortunately imports are tested much more laxly.
So why isn’t Sonnleitner explaining all the things German farmers do to enhance on-farm food safety?
No need. They’ve decided to sue German health authority the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Consumer Ministry for damages over warnings about eating vegetables made to the public in the wake of the E. coli bacteria outbreak.
2. It’s a small risk thing
More people die every day in car accidents than are likely to perish from the current E. coli outbreak. Yet we know every time we get behind the wheel of a car that we are taking a small risk. We don’t, on the other hand, expect to die from eating a cucumber.
The left-wing Berliner Zeitung was the strongest proponent of the latter case, arguing that 21st-century consumers were so geographically and psychologically disconnected from their food production that they had only themselves to blame.
The right-wing Berliner Morgenpost pointed out that swine flu resulted in a much higher death toll than that caused so far by E. coli. And swine flu, ultimately, was seen as media hype.
Even the small risk posed by the bacteria could be avoided by taking sensible hygiene precautions. And if a person does get sick, they can see their doctor right away.
“Women prepare food more often, and it is there they could have come into contact with it, possibly while cleaning vegetables or other foodstuffs.”
In a German version of blame-the-consumer, the Robert Koch Institute has recommended people improve kitchen hygiene, making sure in particular that cutting boards and knives are clean.
It’s doubtful that 1,500 women practiced lousy kitchen cleanliness at the same time across Germany.
Medical authorities appeared no closer to discovering either the source of the infection or the mystery at the heart of the outbreak: why the unusual strain of the E. coli bacteria appears to be causing so many cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, which attacks the kidneys and can cause seizures, strokes and comas.
The outbreak has hit at least nine European countries but virtually all of the sick people either live in Germany or recently traveled there.
German authorities initially pointed to cucumbers from Spain after people in Hamburg fell ill after eating fresh produce. After tests of some 250 samples of vegetables from around the city, only the three cucumbers from Spain and one other of unknown origin tested positive E. coli.
But further tests showed that those vegetables, while contaminated, did not cause the outbreak. Officials are still warning all Germans to avoid eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes or lettuce.
German Health Minister Daniel Bahr said Monday that authorities still haven’t pinned down definitively the source of the E. coli infection — and "we unfortunately still have to expect a rising number of cases."
An EU official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to standing regulations, said the transport chain was long, and the cucumbers from Spain could have been contaminated at any point along the route.
Spain, meanwhile, went on the defensive, saying there was no proof that the E. coli outbreak has been caused by Spanish vegetables.
"You can’t attribute the origin of this sickness to Spain," Spain’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, Diego Lopez Garrido told reporters in Brussels. "There is no proof and that’s why we are going to demand accountability from those who have blamed Spain for this matter."
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a risk assessment today that the HUS/STEC E. coli O104 outbreak is the largest in the world of its kind, with 14 dead, 352 with hemolytic uremic syndrome and over 1,200 sick.
German Health Minister Daniel Bahr said Monday that authorities still haven’t pinned down definitively the source of the E. coli infection — and "we unfortunately still have to expect a rising number of cases."
An EU official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to standing regulations, said the transport chain was long, and the cucumbers from Spain could have been contaminated at any point along the route.
Spain, meanwhile, went on the defensive, saying there was no proof that the E. coli outbreak has been caused by Spanish vegetables.
"You can’t attribute the origin of this sickness to Spain," Spain’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, Diego Lopez Garrido told reporters in Brussels. "There is no proof and that’s why we are going to demand accountability from those who have blamed Spain for this matter."
EU spokesman Frederic Vincent said Sunday that two greenhouses in Spain that were identified as the source of the contaminated cucumbers had ceased activities. The water and soil there are being analyzed to see whether they were the problem, and the results are expected Tuesday or Wednesday, Vincent said.
Meseguer, and Reina Sofia hospitals. Thirtenn people remain hospitalized.
chlorination or refilled after each session.
unprotected in stainless steel jugs."
with or without headache, are encouraged to consult their doctor and indicate what they have eaten.
(104 cases), the West Midlands (36 cases) and the East Midlands (26 cases)..jpg)
ntestines.
But Amy’s worried about cucumbers.
probably the worst headline ever. E. coli O104 is not herpes. 
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either live in Germany or recently traveled there..jpg)
contaminated at any point along the route.
contaminated at any point along the route.