Outbreaks and Alerts: June 21, 2010

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

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United States

• Lake O' The Pines, TX. June 19: Authorities have closed all beaches on Lake O' The Pines after E. coli was found in the water.
• Olympia, WA. June 19:

  The boil-water advisory for Green Tank Irrigation District 11, which was issued on June 9th, has been lifted. Residents no longer need to boil their water.
• Springfield, IL. June 21: The Subway Salmonella Hvittingfoss outbreak now extends to 97 confirmed illnesses in 28 Illinois counties. There has been no break in the investigation to determine the source of the contaminant.
• Baton Rouge, LA. June 21: One hundred and forty-three cases of oil spill exposure-related cases have been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) to date, according to its third surveillance report released today. One hundred and eight of those cases involved workers on oil rigs or workers involved in the oil spill clean-up efforts, while 35 were reported by the general public.

Canada

• Sarnia, ON. June 21:

  The epidemiological investigation into an outbreak of Cyclospora illnesses among attendees at the Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton Chef's Challenge on May 12, 2010 has been officially closed. After interviewing 290 participants at the Chef's Challenge, the Community Health Service recorded 210 reports of illnesses consistent with Cyclospora infection; 43 cases were laboratory-confirmed. All individuals who became ill reported eating the "cool pesto crunch" appetizer provided by Boston Not Chicago Catering Co. An inspection of the catering company did not reveal any violations of food handling procedures. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is continuing its traceback investigation of all ingredients in the "cool pesto crunch" appetizer dish.

Europe

• France. June 19: The Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Employment has instructed the Outox beverage company to withdraw all false advertising claims that the product accelerates a drop in blood alcohol levels.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. June 18: The Central Province of Papua New Guinea has reported 991 cases of cholera, including unconfirmed reports of 8 deaths, in the last two weeks.
• Vietnam, June 20: Cholera has returned to the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, with more than 50 cases confirmed, and in excess of 500 cases of diarrhea reported.
• Bengaluru, India. June 20: The city is bracing for its annual outbreak of cholera. Ten cases were reported in May of this year – more than the total for May of 2008 and 2009 combined. Twenty-six cholera cases have been confirmed in Bengaluru so far in 2010.
• Yola, Nigeria. June 21: At least 21 people have died this past week and 89 others were hospitalized due to an outbreak of cholera in Adamawa State.