Outbreaks and Alerts: August 24, 2010

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

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United States

• Butler County, KS. August 20th: The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) continues to advise the public that water may be unsafe for people and animals at Santa Fe Lake in Butler County. While harmful algae are still detected, levels are improving and the public health warning has been downgraded to an advisory to allow for boating and fishing at the reservoir.
• Kansas. August 20th: The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is advising the public to avoid contact with water at the following locations: Central Park Lake, Shawnee County; Centralia City Lake, Nemaha County; Meade State Lake, Meade County; Veteran’s Lake, Barton County after confirming toxic blue-green algae blooms in these lakes.
• Jackson County, OR. August 23rd: A health advisory prompted by high algae levels found in Fish Lake, located 30 miles east of Medford, has been lifted, after water monitoring confirmed reduced levels of blue-green algae.
• Douglas County, OR. August 23rd: A health advisory prompted by high algae levels found in Fish Lake, located in the Rogue- Umpqua Divide Wilderness has been lift after water monitoring confirmed reduced levels of blue-green algae.

Canada

• Winnipeg, MB. August 23rd: The number of people who have fallen ill from an E. coli outbreak has risen to 26. Two children have been hospitalized. The majority of cases have been linked to food eaten at the Russian pavilion during the recent Folklorama festival.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Cameroon. August 23rd: Thirty-one people are reported ill from cholera and three people have died in the North Region of Cameroon. The epidemic is thought to have spread from the adjacent Far North region, where a cholera epidemic has claimed 258 lives and sickened 3,393 people so far.