Outbreaks and Alerts: July 12, 2010

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

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United States

• Burlington, VT. July 8: Algae accumulations or “blooms” are occurring in several sections of Lake Champlain (Main Lake and Burlington Bay), including shoreline areas in Burlington, Shelburne, Charlotte, Ferrisburgh, Panton, near Long and Thompson’s Points, around Juniper Island in the Main Lake, and near Westport and Port Henry in New York. Boaters, swimmers, water-skiers, waders, parents, pet-owners and residents should all avoid contact with dense accumulations of algae. Children are at higher risk because they are more likely to drink the water. Do not allow pets into algae-contaminated water, because they will also drink the water and consume algae that accumulates on their fur.
• Sacramento, CA. July 9: The California Department of Food and Agriculture has imposed penalties on a Santa Rosa grower as a result of violations pertaining to the National Organic Program. Valley End Farm sold produce mislabeled as organic to consumers and did not maintain adequate records to substantiate the sale and production of organic products.
• Manhattan, KS. July 11: The Dairy Queen located at 3116 Anderson Avenue has been cited for 8 critical violations. A follow-up inspection will take place in the near future.
• Cedar Rapids, IA. July 10: State health officials are warning Iowans about touching reptiles after two Eastern Iowans contracted Salmonella. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health (as reported on gazetteonline.com), the two illnesses could be associated with a national outbreak linked to exposure to snakes, turtles, lizards or other reptiles.
• Ellensburg, WA. July 12: The strain of E. coli that infected children who attended three day care facilities in Ellensburg was E. coli O26, according to a report on Marler Blog.
• Utah. July 12: A Utah investigation into the astronomically high levels of arsenic in two local children has determined that the arsenic levels came from the children's backyard chickens. The source of the arsenic was chicken feed that contains roxarsone, a legal arsenic-based additive that is used to prevent the chickens from contracting parasitic diseases.
• St. Petersburg, FL. July 12: NOAA modifies commercial and recreational fishing closure in the oil-affected portions of the Gulf of Mexico. The new closure measures 84,101 sq mi (217,821 sq km) and covers about 35% of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone.

Europe

• Aberporth, Wales. July 12: The Environment Agency said the stream at Aberporth was running clear after the source of a sewage spill was fixed, but signs advising swimmers not to go into the water would remain for now.
• France. July 12: Residues of 365 different pesticides – 76 of them in cereal products – have been identified in fruits and vegetables consumed in Europe, according to a study released by the European Agency for Food Safety.

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

• Abu Dhabi, UAE. July 12: Dr. Mariam Hareb Sultan Al-Yousuf, Executive Director, Policy and Regulation, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) and Member, National Committee for Food Safety, stressed the need for and importance of an early alert system for food and feed in the UAE. She said that the proposed system should be linked to the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (EU-RASFF) and the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN).

Australia and New Zealand

• New Zealand. July 11: The major importers of baby bottle brands which include Avent, Nuby, Tommee Tippee and Watties Baby Basics are not restocking products that contain Bisphenol (BPA), a chemical linked to cancers, according to a news report in the New Zealand Herald.

The Latest Salmonella Outbreak: Salmonella Carrau

March 26, 2009

The Public Health Agency of Canada reported yesterday evening that another Salmonella outbreak may be incubating in Canada and elsewhere.

According to PHAC, four provinces – Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island – have reported a total of 14 cases of gastroenteritis due to Salmonella Carrau. The most recent confirmed victim began to experience symptoms on March 10.

This same, relatively rare, serotype also has been recovered from individuals in Wisconsin (3 confirmed, one suspect), Texas, Maine, New York, and Illinois, according to a recent report issued by the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. Texas authorities apparently have recovered a genetically similar strain from two turtles; further genetic fingerprinting is underway to determine whether these isolates match those recovered from outbreak victims.

It may be coincidence, but the Week 10 edition of the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed reported that, in early March, Norway had refused entry to a shipment of frozen beef tenderloins from Argentina due to the presence of Salmonella Carrau. Both Canada and the United States permit the importation of processed beef from Argentina; neither country allows the entry of Argentinian raw beef due to the risk of foot and mouth disease.

Salmonella Carrau was isolated for the first time in 1936 – from the mesenteric glands of normal pigs. Between the initial 1936 isolation and the first published description of the microbe in 1944, Salmonella Carrau also was recovered from four individuals – two babies and two adults – who were suffering from diarrhea (one with colitis), and from a group of 20 flies. One of the strains was found in Mexico; the rest were from Uruguay (a next door neighbor of Argentina).

Salmonella Carrau has been detected sporadically in the United States; CDC's most recent annual Salmonella summary shows a total of 10 human-origin isolates in 2006, scattered across four regions of the country. 

Are any of these most recent reports of Salmonella Carrau in Argentinian beef, Texas turtles, and sufferers of gastroenteritis in Canada and the United States related? Only time – and genetic fingerprinting – will tell.

A Look Back at January 2008

I have just returned from a month-long trip through Southeast Asia, and have been scanning through my accumulation of news archives to see what I missed. Here are a few of the things that happened in the United States and Canada while I was away.

1. New Era Canning Company announced on January 18th a recall of green beans and canned garbanzo beans packed in #10 cans (institutional size) due to a risk of botulism. Four days later, the company expanded the recall to included all cans of green beans and garbanzo beans produced during the past five years.
2. On January 21st, Kroger's recalled it's Tri-Bean Salad from stores in 14 states. The salads had been prepared using canned beans from New Era.
3. FDA announced a recall of frozen salted yellow croaker and frozen dried yellow croaker on January 23rd, due to the possibility that the fish might be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum.
4. USDA announced on January 5th a recall of more than 13,000 pounds of steak and ground beef products from Mark's Quality Meats of Detroit due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The meat was sold to Detroit area restaurants. No illnesses were associated with this recall.
5. Rochester Meat Company of Rochester, MN recalled 188,000 pounds of ground beef on January 12th after six illnesses – five in Wisconsin and one in California – were linked to their meat. The ground beef had been distributed to restaurants and food service establishments nation-wide.
6. On January 22nd, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) alerted consumers to Salmonella-contaminated organic sesame seeds. The seeds were imported from Uganda. On January 28th, Shiloh Farms of New Holland, PA announced the recall of its "Organic Unhulled Sesame Seeds", after FDA detected Salmonella in a sample of sesame seeds from one of their suppliers. Coincidence?
7. On January 27th, CFIA warned consumers in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces to avoid consuming chicken sandwiches produced by Les Aliments Martel of Gatineau, QC, due to the risk that the sandwiches might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
8. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an on-going outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. Java that has been linked to pet turtles. As of January 18th, there have been 103 confirmed illnesses in 33 states. Young children are especially susceptible to becoming infected as a result of handling the contaminated turtles. FDA has posted a Consumer Update on the risks associated with Salmonella in pet turtles.
9. Finally, Washington State Department of Agriculture announced on January 29th that it had found Listeria monocytogenes in a coconut-flavored frozen dessert produced by Ca Rem #1 Ice Cream of Sea Tac, WA. The non-dairy frozen dessert was distributed mainly through Asian restaurants and markets in Western Oregon and Western Washington, and is being recalled by the manufacturer. Consumers are advised to throw away any unused product.

I'm intrigued by the sudden upsurge of major canned food recalls in the last year or two – first Castleberry's and now New Era. This sector of the food industry has been under a HACCP-style program for many decades with apparently good results. I wonder whether the chronic underfunding of FDA's food inspection activities is bearing some bitter fruit.

Baby Turtles - The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Not food related, but.....

North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services is reminding parents that giving a pet turtle to their kids is not a good idea.

Four children were recently confirmed to have suffered from a Salmonella infection last summer, and one of them was hospitalized due to kidney failure. But they didn't become infected from food. Baby pet turtles were the source of the infection. Veterinarians tested the turtle belonging to one of the infected children, and found the identical strain of Salmonella to the one recovered from the sick child.

Pet turtles have long been a source of occasional Salmonella illnesses in children. Health agencies warn about this over and over again. In fact, the FDA banned the sale of these turtles more than 30 years ago - in 1975. Unfortunately, some of these are still finding their way into the hands of children. And the Salmonella that they carry is finding its way from the children's hands into their bodies.

Please be warned. Pet turtles and children - especially young children - are not a good combination.