Outbreaks and Alerts: May 14, 2010

A daily digest of international outbreaks, alerts and food safety news

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United States

• Cape Girardeau County, MO. May 10, 2010: At least 14 people have fallen ill after drinking water at the Class Act Sports Complex, located outside of Jackson. E. coli has been found in the drinking water, which is supplied from a private well. Four of the victims have been hospitalized.
• Daviess County, KY. May 13, 2010: Thirty individuals, mostly children under 13 years old, have been infected with Shigella. The outbreak is centered around the Helen Sears Family Development Center. Shigella is a highly contagious gastrointestinal pathogen that is transmitted by direct or indirect contact with contaminated feces.
• San Antonio, TX. May 13, 2010: State health officials are searching for the source of a strain of Listeria monocytogenes that has killed two residents in the San Antonio area and sickened seven others since the beginning of 2010.
• Waukesha County, WI. May 14, 2010: Fifty luncheon guests at the Country Springs Hotel are suffering from foodborne illness, according to a Barfblog report. The county health department is investigating the outbreak.

Canada

• South Kamloops, BC. May 13, 2010. E. coli O157:H7 infected four students and one employee of the South Kamloops Secondary School between April 25th and April 29th. One student was hospitalized briefly, but is now recovering. The source of the outbreak has not been determined, but investigators apparently have ruled out the school cafeteria.

Europe

• Kazakhstan, Russia. May 13, 2010: Forty-six people in Kyzyl-Orda (southern Kazakhstan) were hospitalized with food poisoning.
• Madrid, Spain. May 14, 2010: The second captain of Real Madrid could miss the final game of the season next Sunday, because he has been suffering from gastroenteritis.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Abu Dhabi. May 11, 2010: Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) has disclosed that 17 food outlets have been closed so far in the current year in different parts of the emirate of Abu Dhabi for consistent non-compliance with food safety rules and regulations and resultant risks to public health. The 17 outlets include eight restaurants, two refreshments outlets, three cafeterias, one supermarket, one grocery and two food firms.
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia. May 13, 2010: An outbreak of diarrhoea has spread through four villages in a Kampong Cham district in two days, killing two people and hospitalizing more than 100 others.
• Panbang, Bhutan. May 13, 2010: Poor sanitation is being blamed for an outbreak of Hepatitis A in four villages of Bjoka gewog, which has killed on man and left seven other people sick.
• Nepal. May 13, 2010: Three hundred diarrhea cases and 17 deaths have been reported from remote districts of the mid- and far-western regions of Nepal. The government is on high alert and has instructed local authorities to be on the watch for diarrhea outbreaks.
• Alor Star, Malaysia. May 14, 2010: Food poisoning struck 137 girls who board at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultanah Bahiyah school. One of the students commented that the steamed fish had a "foul smell." The school's dining hall will be closed for two weeks to allow a thorough investigation.
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. May 14, 2010: Ho Chi Minh Department of Education has banned street vendors from selling food in front of city schools in an effort to prevent the spread of cholera, after several school children tested positive for Vibrio cholerae.

Australia and New Zealand

• New South Wales. May 13, 2010: NSW Health warns Australians that eating raw slugs may cause serious illness, including meningitis.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Montevideo, Uruguay. May 13, 2010: El País reports that Hepatitis E has been detected in Uruguay. Hepatitis E, like the better-known Hepatitis A virus, is transmitted through direct or indirect contact with human feces and is usually associated with poor sanitation.
• Pereira, Colombia. May 13, 2010: An outbreak of gastroenteritis that has affected 44 inmates of Pereira Prison 40 is reported by authorities to be under control.
• Chilpancingo, Mexico. May 13, 2010: The Guerrero Health Secretary is advising residents to pay special attention to sanitation during warm weather to avoid gastrointestinal disease.