Cases of foodborne illness in Europe are frequently resistant to antibiotics, according to a new report based on data collected from the 26 European Union member states for 2010. The report, by the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC) in Sweden and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Italy, shows that Salmonella and Campylobacter, the main causes of foodborne illness in the EU, are resistant to several antibiotics, including ciprofloxacin. The new report adds weight to what the ECDC has maintained for a number of years: antimicrobial resistance has become a major public health threat in the EU. The ECDC website states “Misuse of antibiotics leads to the emergence and selection of resistant bacteria. Doctors in Europe and worldwide now are sometimes … [Read more...]
Norovirus Outbreaks Way Up in S.C.
South Carolina's top disease control official says Norovirus outbreaks in the state are way up this year, a trend that has prompted health notices in a wide variety of institutional settings including schools, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Since the start of 2012, the Palmetto State has investigated more than twice the usual number of reported outbreaks thought to be associated with Norovirus. “Most of the illnesses have been caused by Norovirus, and this significant increase is similar to what we're hearing is happening in other states," said Dr. Jerry Gibson, M.D., state epidemiologist and director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's Bureau of Disease Control. In a news release, Gibson reminded state residents that Norovirus is … [Read more...]
Harvard Holds Conference on Digital Disease Detection
On February 16, 2012, Harvard Medical School held an International Conference on Digital Disease Detection. The conference discussed ways that the internet can aid in disease surveillance: the science of epidemiology. Epidemiology is the study of the pattern and distribution of health events and disease outbreaks. In the original Greek, it means "the study of what is upon people", even though it's also used to study animal populations. How Will Social Media be Used? That discipline is one tool doctors and scientists use to establish foodborne illness outbreaks. Before the internet age, epidemiology was labor-intensive and slow moving, using surveillance, data, and statistics to discover cause-and-affect relationships. Now the power of the internet can be used to track epidemics in … [Read more...]
New Jersey Provides Update on Milk Outbreak Linked to Family Cow Dairy
The sale or distribution of raw milk in New Jersey is banned, but the state currently has two residents who are ill in connection with a major outbreak caused by the consumption of raw milk from a Pennsylvania farm. In the latest government update on the Family Cow Dairy outbreak, the New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release Thursday that 78 people in several Northeast states have been confirmed as case patients in the outbreak. One of the New Jersey victims is a boy toddler, just 3 years old, from Gloucester County. The other is a 27-year-old man from Burlington County. "Both got ill after consuming raw milk from the Family Cow Dairy,'' the news release said. “Raw milk can contain a number of bacteria that can cause life-threatening illness, … [Read more...]
CDC: Raw Milk 150 Times More Likely to Cause Outbreaks
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) just issued a press release stating that a report shows the rate of outbreaks caused by unpasteurized, or raw milk products is 150 times higher than outbreaks linked to pasteurized milk. The study, titled "Nonpasteurized Dairy Products, Disease Outbreaks, and State Laws--United States" will be published in the CDC Journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. It reviewed dairy product outbreaks from 1993 to 2006 in all 50 states. The amount of all milk produced during that time period was 2.7 trillion pounds. The amount of raw milk produced during that period is estimated at 27 billion pounds, or 1% of the total milk produced. During that time frame, 121 dairy-related foodborne illness outbreaks caused 4,413 illnesses, 239 hospitalizations and three … [Read more...]
Sprouts A Common Source Of Outbreaks
The E. coli outbreak linked to clover sprouts from Jimmy John's restaurants is the fifth multi-state outbreak caused by sprouts in the last three years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So far, 12 people in five states have been sickened by E. coli O26 after eating sandwiches with sprouts from Jimmy John’s restaurants. The case count by state is as follows: Iowa (5), Missouri (3), Kansas (2), Arkansas (1), and Wisconsin (1). All of those who became ill are females ranging in age from 9 years to 49 years old, with a median age of 25 years old. Two of the victims have been hospitalized. E. coli symptoms include severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting, sometimes accompanied by a low-grade fever. Health officials urge anyone … [Read more...]
E. coli and Other Fecal Bugs Cause 71% of Water-Associated Outbreaks
Seventy-one percent of the world's water-associated disease outbreaks reported between 1990 and 2008 were water-borne diseases caused by micro-organisms like E. coli that enter water through fecal contamination and cause infection when humans consume contaminated water. That was a major finding in a newly published study conducted by Ohio State University scientists who constructed a massive database containing information about 1,428 water-associated disease outbreaks. They used the model to predict that western Europe, Central Africa and Northern India are at higher risk for water-borne diseases, especially diarrhea and other complications from E. coli, and that the risk in Europe is primarily driven by water-carried diseases that tend to occur in recreational areas. Based … [Read more...]
