The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their annual report on the incidence of foodborne illness in the United States on Tuesday. It shows there has been little progress made on the prevention of food poisoning outbreaks in recent years. Salmonella and Campylobacter are the two bacteria that cause the most illness. Progress in reducing illness caused by E. coli O157:H7 bacteria has stalled. The data showed an increase in Campylobacter infections, but there was a small decrease in Salmonella illnesses when compared to 2010-2012. But Christopher Waldrop, Director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) said, "for most pathogens, we haven't really been able to move the needle win recent years. The decrease in Salmonella illnesses is … [Read more...]
Feinstein and Durbin Ask USDA to Address Poultry Contamination
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Representative Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack this week, asking him to develop strong performance standards for poultry products to reduce foodborne illnesses. Both Campylobacter and Salmonella should be addressed in the new standards, according to the letter. The USDA is going to publish a new Salmonella standard for poultry parts by September 2014, and for ground poultry products by the end of the year. But the government does not have a timeline for establishing Campylobacter standards for those products. And the recent CDC Food Safety Progress Report states that there has been a 13% increase in Campylobacter infections in the U.S. from 2008 to 2013. The letter states that "it … [Read more...]
Food Poisoning Outbreaks Linked To Chicken Liver
A Campylobacter outbreak linked to undercooked chicken liver has sickened at least five people in Oregon and Ohio, health officials say. Although it may seem unusual, this isn't the first time a food poisoning outbreak has been linked to chicken liver. A 2012 Campylobacter outbreak linked to undercooked chicken livers sickened six people in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. Some of those sickened ate the liver at restaurants, others purchased it from a grocery store and prepared it at home. The six case patients ranged in age from 19 to 87 years old. The median age was 53.5 years. Three of them were male, three were female. Two of the patients were hospitalized. In 2011, Salmonella in undercooked chicken livers sickened 190 people in six states. The chicken livers were sold at … [Read more...]
Oregon Chicken Liver Campylobacter Outbreak
Undercooked chicken liver is the source of a Campylobacter outbreak that has sickened five people in Oregon and Ohio since December 2013, according to Oregon health officials. Most of those sickened ate the chicken livers prepared as pâté. The case patients from Ohio ate chicken liver pâté while visiting Oregon. The Oregon Health Authority is working with U.S, Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the outbreak investigation. Chicken livers have been linked to outbreaks in the past. In 2012, a Campylobacter outbreak linked to undercooked chicken livers sickened six people in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. In 2011, 190 people in six states were sickened in a Salmonella outbreak linked to undercooked chicken … [Read more...]
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleges Campylobacter Poisoning From Chicken
A Texas woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Bush's Chicken franchise in Killeen, TX after her husband contracted Campylobacter poisoning and died. The lawsuit, case number D-1-GN-14000041, was filed in District Court of Travis County, TX. According to the suit, on November 27, 2012, Angela Scurry and her late husband, Morris Scurry, purchased chicken strips at the drive-through window of Bush's Chicken located on 812 38th St. in Killeen. They ate some on the way home and finished the rest later that night. At 3:00 a.m. on November 28, Ms. Scurry awoke upon hearing her husband vomiting in the bathroom. He also had diarrhea. These symptoms persisted for three hours. Later that day, shortly after Mr. Scurry said the symptoms had returned, Ms. Scurry found her husband … [Read more...]
Research Maps Campylobacter Chromosomes
New research from the Institute of Food Research has mapped chromosomes of Campylobacter. Scientists are trying to understand how this pathogenic bacteria controls its genes to develop new strategies to fight it. In the UK, Campylobacter is the most common cause of foodborne diarrheal illness. The chromosome map shows where all of the bacteria turns on its genes. Those are called transcriptional start sites (TSS). The bacteria turns on different genes in response to changes in its environment. TSS are also how the bacteria evolved to adapt to new situations. All organisms have these control mechanisms. The scientists used a technique called Differential RNA Sequencing. The high resolution map that was generated shows that Campylobacter has many more TSS than predicted. Scientists … [Read more...]
Untreatable: Today’s Drug Resistant Threats
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just released Untreatable, a new report all about antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The report is the "first-ever snapshot of the burden and threats posed by the antibiotic-resistant germs having the most impact on human health," according to the report. Every year in this country, at least 2 million people are sickened with bacteria that are resistant to bacteria. At least 23,000 of those people die as a direct result of their infections. The urgent threats include Clostridium difficile, while serious threats include drug-resistant Campylobacter (pictured), Salmonella Typhi, and Shigella. All can be passed to human beings through food and water. The CDC states that if the ability to effectively treat common infections is lost, … [Read more...]
Family Cow Raw Milk Sales Resume
After a Campylobacter outbreak linked to its raw milk prompted a suspension of sales, Family Cow has been cleared by Pennsylvania health officials to resume raw milke sales. The outbreak was the third less than two years to be associated with The Family Cow farm in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In this outbreak, two people who consumed raw milk from the farm developed campylobacteriosis, the infection caused by ingesting the bacteria Campylobacter. In May 2013, at least five people were sickened by Campylobacter in a raw milk outbreak linked to the farm. And in January 2012, the farm was the source of the largest raw milk outbreak in Pennsylvania history. Several people were hospitalized. Raw milk sales are legal in Pennsylvania as long as producers pass mandatory inspections. But … [Read more...]
Don’t Wash That Bird! Animation Shows Spread of Contamination
Remember when we told you last year to not wash turkeys and chickens before you cook them? Washing just spreads pathogenic bacteria around the kitchen. Now there's visual proof of what happens when raw meat is rinsed under the kitchen faucet. Drexel University has launched a new campaign called "Don't Wash Your Chicken" to urge consumers to drop the habit. They have released a video filmed with what they call "germ vision" that shows how bacteria spread onto adjacent surfaces (and you) when a chicken is rinsed under running water. Oddly, the film focuses on "minority populations", because those groups seem to be more likely to wash raw poultry before cooking. When you wash raw meat under running water, the bacteria "aerosolizes", or becomes airborne, and it can end up three feet … [Read more...]
Campylobacter Raw Milk #3 For Family Cow in PA
For the third time in 20 months, a raw milk Campylobacter outbreak has been associated with The Family Cow farm in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Two people who consumed raw milk from the farm have confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection, called campylobacteriosis, according to Pennsylvania health officials. The farm has stopped selling raw milk while the investigation is pending. In January 2012, the farm was the source of the largest raw milk outbreak in Pennsylvania history. Several people were hospitalized. In May, of this year raw milk for the farm was again linked to an outbreak. Campylobacter in the raw milk was the source of each outbreak. After receiving a complaint from a consumer, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture went to the farm on 3854 Olde Scotland Road and … [Read more...]
