Outbreaks and Alerts: September 27, 2010

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

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Europe

• Cádiz, Spain. September 1885: Cholera invaded the region 125 years ago, with 23 cases and 12 deaths reported in Cadiz; two illnesses and a death have been reported in El Puerto de Santa Maria, and the cholera hospital established in Santo Domingo reported one death.
• Charente-Maritime, France. September 27th: The winter storm Xynthia has been blamed for the development of Domoic Acid, a neurotoxin produced by red algae, in coquille Saint Jacques (scallops). Domoic acid causes Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) in humans. The harvest season for coquille Saint Jacques usually opens at the beginning of November. More tests will be conducted before then to determine whether or not the shellfish are safe to harvest.
• Kidlington, UK. September 27th: One dead mouse = £16,821.14, according to Oxford Crown Court.
  That's the amount of the fine assessed against Premier Foods after the company admitted to having failed to maintain acceptable standards at its British Bakeries site in London. Stephen Forse found a dead mouse in a loaf of bread he had purchased on-line through Tesco.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Hong Kong. September 24th: The Centre for Health Protection advises that three women who consumed coral reef fish were diagnosed with ciguatoxin poisoning.
• Istanbul, Turkey. September 25th: More than Listeria- and Salmonella-contaminated hamburger patties have gone missing after Fasdat Gida, the company responsible for distributing meat to Burger King, cancelled its contract with TT Gida on the grounds that the meat was contaminated. Although Fasdat Gida claimed that the meat was sent to Zeybek Solid Waste Center for safe disposal, there are indications that the meat was sold for human consumption.
• Srinagar, Pakistan. September 25th: One person is dead and 15 others have been hospitalized after an outbreak of cholera in south Kashmir's Islamabad district. Locals blame contaminated tap water, but officials say that the outbreak victims were infected as a result of drinking water from a nearby stream that was contaminated by runoff resulting from recent heavy downpours.
• Cebu, Philippines. September 26th: The Department of Health is warning of a rise in the number of cases of diarrhea in Central Visayas. The Cebu City Health Department has recorded 1,443 cases, with four deaths, during the first eight months of this year.

  Doctors are advising the public to use boiled water for drinking.
• Fayoum, Egypt. September 26th: Five members of a family were taken to hospital with food poisoning after eating a meal of spoiled rice. The five victims include a five-year old child, a teen and three young adults.
• Taiwan. September 27th: The Department of Health announces that vitamin and food supplements in tablet and capsule form shall be subject to registration and market approval, effective January 1, 2011.
• Beijing, China. September 27th: As of September 16th, dairy manufacturers are required to keep records of all raw materials purchased, and are required to conduct melamine tests on all products before distributing them in the market. The buying and selling of melamine in China now is on a "real-name" basis to allow the tracing of all products from wholesalers to retailers.
• Mumbai, India. September 27th: Malegaon blast suspect Pragya Singh Thakur was transferred to JJ Hospital after being diagnosed with typhoid.
• Muta, Jordan. September 27th: Forty celebrants at an engagement party were diagnosed with food poisoning after eating Aljato purchased from a Muta pastry shop.

Australia and New Zealand

• New South Wales, Australia. September 26th: The NSW Food Authority has added the following restaurants to its Name and Shame list for a variety of breaches of the Food Standards Code: DJ's Sushi (poor temperature control); Koh-Ya Yakiniku Japanese Restaurant, Neutral Bay (storing raw meat on dirty wet towels directly above ready-to-eat food); Everest Tandoori, Kogarah (mobile phone lying on chopping board that was in use); Balmain Trattoria and Pizzeria (9 breaches, including using food past use-by date and preparing food in basement; and Money Bags Thai Restaurant, Baulkham Hills (3 breaches, including preparing raw prawns and noodles in back courtyard in dirty, unprotected buckets).

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Caldas, Brazil. September 27th: Cyanobacter (algae) has been detected in water samples. Drinking water is not affected.