Outbreaks and Alerts: August 6, 2010

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

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United States

• Springfield, IL. August 5: Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is asking all swimming facilities in Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties to hyperchlorinate all pools, spas and water park features. The Department closed a swimming pool in St. Clair County earlier this week after reports of several cases of cryptosporidiosis, a disease caused by a parasite in fecal matter that is sometimes found in pools. Department staff is visiting numerous pools in the metro east area today to educate facilities about the need for hyperchlorination and proper procedures. The Department has reports of four confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis and local health department officials are investigating dozens of suspected cases.
• California. August 6: Ground beef patties and ground beef products recalled today by Valley Meat (Modesto, CA) are being blamed for seven confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 infections in the state since February of this year.

Europe

• Alicante, Spain. August 6: Salmonella food poisoning has now affected a total of 80 people since last Sunday, including five aldermen of the City of Sant Joan. In the last 24 hours, an additional six people were admitted to hospital, bring the total number of hospitalized outbreak victims to 31.
• Sakhalin, Russia. August 6: Seventy employees of Sakhalin-1 were stricken with food poisoning; three people were hospitalized.
• Viana, Portugal. August 6: Nearly 30 people at the four-day-long Paredes de Coura music festival in Viana do Castelo were struck down by a bout of food poisoning believed to have originated from meat in sandwiches being sold by a mobile caravan selling food at the event.
• Rheine, Germany. August 6: The number of cases of Norovirus during the first 29 weeks of 2010 in the district has more than doubled over last year – 1,082 cases versus just 477 cases during the same period of 2009.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Hong Kong. August 5: The Centre for Health Protection is investigating a confirmed case of cholera involving a 55-year-old woman who developed diarrhoea and vomiting on August 2. The patient has no history of recent travel outside of Hong Kong. This is the fourth confirmed cholera case in Hong Kong so far this year.
• Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. August 6: Eight more people who may be infected with cholera were admitted to hospital in Port Moresby this week. The cholera outbreak has now been in progress for more than a year.
• Alappuzha, India. August 6: Around 100 students belonging to the Trikkunnapuzha Govt LP School were hospitalized with food poisoning after having consumed lunch at the school. The children, who were complaining of diarrhea and vomiting, were examined and released.