Outbreaks and Alerts: September 25, 2010

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

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United States

• Coos County, OR. September 23rd: A health advisory prompted by high algae levels was issued for Tenmile Lake in Coos County.
• Lincoln County, OR. September 23rd: A health advisory for contact with marine water at D River State Park Beach was lifted by after tests of the water revealed that fecal bacterial levels had dropped to normal range.
• King County, WA. September 23rd: Residents of Riverbend Homesites in eastern King county are urged to boil their drinking water because routine test samples have shown that the water may be contaminated with E. coli.
• LaCrosse, WA. September 23rd: Residents of LaCrosse in Eastern Washington are urged to boil their drinking water after E. coli was detected during routine monitoring.
• Lincoln, NE. September 24th: Health alerts for toxic blue-green algae continue to be in effect at Merritt Reservoir in Cherry County, Kirkman’s Cove near Humboldt, and Willow Creek Lake near Pierce. Alerts have ended at Swan Creek Lake 5A near Tobias, and Red Willow Reservoir near McCook.

Canada

• Vancouver, BC. September 24th: The BC Centre for Disease Control is urging restaurant owners and consumers to avoid serving and consuming raw or undercooked Effingham XSM (extra small) oysters harvested between September 7 and September 21, 2010. Vancouver Coastal Health has identified three clusters of persons reporting diarrhoea and other intestinal symptoms among consumers who ate raw oysters at events and restaurants in Vancouver and Richmond. All three clusters of illness were linked to batches of oysters harvested between September 7th and 14th (Effingham XSM raw oysters with lot numbers 172688, 172929 and NY-OY010091401). The implicated oysters have been recalled. While the pathogen behind this outbreak is still under investigation, the reported symptoms are consistent with Norovirus.

Europe

• UK. September 24th: A wild mushroom safety message has been issued by the Health Protection Agency's National Poisons Information Service. It is thought that the 2010 autumn wild mushroom season began in late August, and it is expected to run for several more weeks, in some parts of the UK. The public and the health care community are reminded that some types of mushrooms are so poisonous that they can prove fatal if eaten.
• UK. September 24th: A new guide to help UK growers keep their produce free from microbial contamination has been published by the Food Standards Agency and teh Horticultural Development Company.
• Frankfurt, Germany. September 24th: A 9-month-old boy has died in a Frankfurt hospital, apparently of cholera he caught during his family's stay in Pakistan. Six people who were in contact with the baby have been put in quarantine, but show no signs of the disease.
• Rostov-on-Don, Russia. September 24th: Two people have been hospitalized with suspected anthrax, and cases of anthrax have been reported in a dairy herd in the village of Uspenskoye. As many as 20 infected cows have been slaughtered and their carcasses burnt to stop the spread of the disease.
• York, UK. September 25th: A woman has died after becoming infected with Campylobacter, probably contracted from chicken. An inquest into her death is in progress.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Singapore. September 22nd: The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore announces the cessation of mandatory typhoid vaccination for food handlers.
• Hanoi, Vietnam. September 22nd: The city government is determined to stamp out, before October, traditional and privately owned inner-city slaughterhouses that fail to meet hygiene and food safety standards. Slaughterhouses in Thinh Liet would be the first to be closed down.
• India. September 24th: The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has laid down standards of honey under the Grading and Marking Rules (AGMARK), which lays down the grades, designation of honey as Special, Grade–A and Standard to indicate the quality of honey for the purpose of certification. It specifies the method of packing, marking and labelling and conditions for grant of certificate for authorization. The standards of AGMARK are voluntary. In the matter of admissibility of antibiotics in honey, safety standards in India are similar to those in European Union, Codex Alimentarius and USA where they are completely prohibited.
• Butlmit, Mauritania. September 24th: The Society for Consumer Protection reports that members of one family became ill after drinking milk made from milk powder that had passsed its expiration date.
• Ipoh, Malaysia. September 25th: Forty-nine students from SM Vokasional Seri Manjung school were treated in Manjung hospital for food poisoning. The school's canteen has been ordered closed.
• Harare, Zimbabwe. September 25th: Zimbabwean health officials are on high alert after reports that at least 19 people have died from a cholera outbreak centered at the Chiadzwa or Marange diamond field. So far this year, there have been 669 suspected and 86 laboratory-confirmed cases of the disease.

Australia and New Zealand

• Perth, Australia. September 24th: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has begun legal proceedings against C I & Co. and its owners for allegedly falsely advertising their eggs as free-range.