“About five to six employees had been sick over the last few days. They’ve all been front room employees, cash register, things like that,” said Public Health Nurse, Randy Brooks. “It wasn’t any of the kitchen staff.”
Because front room food service staff never go into the kitchen.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked oysters harvested from Copano Bay, in Aransas County, Texas, harvested between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014.
Oysters harvested from Copano Bay, Texas, on Dec. 26, 2013, and then shipped by Alby’s Seafood of Fulton, Texas, have been linked to six norovirus illnesses in Louisiana. The Texas Department of State Health Services closed Copano Bay to shellfish harvesting on Jan. 9, 2014.
The FDA is warning consumers not to eat raw or partially cooked shellfish from Copano Bay, in Aransas County, Texas, harvested between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014. Alby’s Seafood has issued a recall of the oysters harvested on Dec. 26; however, other shellfish harvested from Copano Bay before it was closed may still be in the marketplace. All shellfish dealers, restaurants, retail food establishments and consumers are advised to check the identity tags on all containers of shellfish in their inventories. If the tag indicates the shellfish were harvested from Copano Bay between Dec. 26, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2014 the product should be disposed of and should not be sold, served or eaten.
Botulism isn’t always pruno-related, the most common source of botulism in North America is improperly canned home preserves. Usually the illnesses are from low acid foods being placed into a jar and then heating enough to seal – but not enough to inactivate the C. botulinum spores. In 2012, a few unlucky folks attending a Oregon family gathering ate some beets that had been boiling-water-bathed, reaching just 212F instead of the needed 240F. Sometimes, if folks are home fermenting stuff, they can create the exact same conditions. Amarillo News reports that a cluster of four botulism cases were likely caused by an amateur fermenter.
The apparent cause of the botulism cases is homemade food called turshi, a traditional Middle Eastern dish of fermented vegetables.
“Investigators believe that during the fermentation phase of preparation lasting several weeks, conditions were ideal for bacteria growth and botulinum toxin production,” according to a news release.
“No commercial food product or restaurant has been linked to the outbreak. No new cases have been added to the outbreak of four and there is no reason to believe this contaminating product is a threat to the general public.”
Health care workers reported the first case Dec. 9, and an investigation found the other victims who knew each other.
Two patients are still in a local hospital.
“One remained on a ventilator this afternoon,” Duke said. “My understanding is it will be removed in the near future.”
KHOU reportsthe Harris County Health Department has temporarily closed a Humble restaurant after multiple patrons reported being sickened over Father’s Day weekend. The health department said it warned Iguana Joe’s about critical violations and how to fix them, but the restaurant didn’t listen so it had no choice but to close the place down at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
“The four major problems that they have right now is cold/hot hold violations. It’s how they cool their product after they’ve heated it up — they’ve cooked it, and now they need to cool it down. And food contact surfaces—you have to remember there are danger zones in foods — so between 41 and 135 degrees is when bacteria grows,” said Harris County Environmental Public Health Services Director Michael Schaffer.
For example, health officials said the employees weren’t cooling the batches of beef, chicken and guacamole at the proper temperatures. However, it’s not clear what made people sick.
Iguana Joe’s released a statement late Monday apologizing for what it called an “unforeseen incident.”
In addition to offending parents and public health types by a taco-eating endorsement of a restaurant faulted for landing two kids in hospital for a month, Dr. Eric Wilke, of the Brazos County Health Department in Texas also said yesterday the outbreak was a “fluke.”
I bet the parents of those kids don’t feel that way.
And how do the cooks at Coco Loco verify the ground beef has reached 165F? Some kind of temperature-measuring device?
People are never as funny as they think they are; I especially ingrain that message into public health students and professionals, because when little kids are really sick, humor don’t go over too well.
But Dr. Eric Wilke, with the Brazos County Health Department in Texas, next door to Texas A&M where beef is best, thought it would be appropriate to do his own see-I’m-eating-this-it-must-be-OK routine favored by politicians to endorse the safety of a food product stigmatized – usually rightly so – by an outbreak.
The County has been investigating the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that sickened at least 10 people for two weeks, but adamantly refused to release details about the restaurant and supplier link.
Today, Dr. Wilkie began a press conference by taking a bite of a ground beef taco from fingered restaurant, Coco Loco, prior to making that announcement.
“Since everybody, I’m sure, would want to know the name of the restaurant, I went by there right before I came. I got a beef taco, so here it is.”
Wilke paused to chew the taco before continuing with the announcement at the news conference.
“The restaurant is Coco Loco. If you want to meet there tomorrow, we could go eat lunch. I shouldn’t have taken a big bite while I’m on camera.”
Judge for yourselves in the news clip from KHOU 11, below.
The parents of an 18-month-old and a 4-year-old who were sickened from E. coli were disgusted by the failed flair.
Parents Greg and Alissa Melton feel Dr. Wilke should’ve got straight to the facts.
“If his kids were in that situation, in the hospital for a month, it wouldn’t have been such a joking matter,” said Greg Melton.
Last week, Melton’s 4-year-old son Jack was released from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
On Monday, the same day as the news conference, his 18-month-old son Noah was released.
“They seemed more concerned about saving face for the restaurant than the critical care my kids were in,” said Greg Melton.
Thanks to Marler for forwarding the clip, and thanks to Dr. Wilkie, for providing a textbook example of how not to do food safety risk communication that will be used for years.
Health types won’t release the name of the restaurant but say it fully co-operated during the investigation.
Five cases of E. coli were confirmed in Brazos County. Five other cases were investigated due to the criteria of symptoms, but they have not been confirmed.
“Control measures have been implemented to prevent further cases including mandatory glove use by employees and continuous monitoring by BCHD,” said the Health Department in a press release.
Last month, Alissa and Greg Melton were the College Station, Texas, parents of three healthy boys and had another on the way.
Then, three weeks ago, their two youngest – a toddler and preschooler – got perilously ill with a fierce strain of E. coli that landed both boys in intensive care with acute kidney failure.
By Monday, the reported number of potential cases had risen from eight last week to 10. The two additional illnesses, also in the College Station area, were identified over the weekend.
The current figure includes five confirmed and five suspected cases. All but the Melton boys are adults who recovered without “significant” medical intervention, said Dr. Eric Wilke, the health authority for Brazos County Health Department.He said the agency along with state health department officials are “making good progress” in identifying the source of the bacteria. Public health authorities believe all of the infections occurred during a week in mid-April. Most adults experienced diarrhea and vomiting.
Three adults have recovered, while College Station brothers 17-month-old Noah Melton and 4-year-old Jack Melton remain in fair condition at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
The Brazos County Health Department says it’s possible they will never know the source of the bacteria, but investigators will work hard to try and find it.
It’s suspected three other adults contracted E. coli but those patients never went to the doctor, so health officials won’t be able to confirm if they’re part of this small outbreak.
They probably won’t make a song, like Five Days in May.
The Brazos County Health Department and the Texas Department of State Health Services are investigating five cases of a possible fatal strand of E. coli found in Brazos County residents.
The health department confirms that two children, both of whom are related, are in the hospital. Sources tell us that they are in critical condition and have been put on dialysis at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Three local adults have also been confirmed to have E. coli. All cases have been confirmed within the last week by the health department, the most recent coming Monday.
Three additional local cases are also under investigation, but have yet to be confirmed.
said Public Health Nurse, Randy Brooks. “It wasn’t any of the kitchen staff.”
