Other Microorganisms

  • Fancy food isn’t safe food; luxury Manchester hotel edition; 80 sick with campylobacter in chicken pate after fundraiser

    Posted: November 25th, 2011 - 4:13pm by Doug Powell

     Who knew Manchester, U.K., had such fancy hotels?

    Diners at Salford's luxury Lowry Hotel reported fever, dizziness and vomiting after attending a fundraiser at what has been dubbed Manchester's most fashionable hotel.

    The outbreak is being linked to chicken pate served at a charity dinner and is now being investigated by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and officers from Salford council.

    The five-star facility gets zero stars for its new addition to the things-not-to-say-after-an-outbreak category: It is the first incident of its kind at the hotel since it opened 10 years ago.

    And be careful when lawyers get sick.

    Solicitor Alex Speed, 44, from Stockport, told how he fell ill after attending the event. “Based on what our table ate, I know that the people who had the tomato soup as a starter didn't get ill. It's reasonable to assume the pate was responsible.”

    He has now launched a compensation claim on behalf of seven clients.

    Dr Rosemary McCann, a consultant with the HPA, said 80 guests had so far reported symptoms - and a number of cases of campylobacter had now been confirmed by laboratory tests.

    Hotel bosses confirmed that the pate dish had been prepared by hotel staff for the dinner on October 8. General manager Peter Kienast said, “We are determined to get to the cause of the issue and the detailed investigation is reviewing every stage of the process from the food source itself to its delivery.”

    'The Lowry Hotel has very stringent procedures and training methods to ensure the highest quality of hygiene in our kitchens.

    GM Kienast, you may want to check out those kitchen procedures.

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  • Crypto sufferer from North Wales had ‘six years of torture’

    Posted: November 24th, 2011 - 4:54am by Doug Powell

    A woman who endured “six years of unnecessary torture” after being struck down by cryptosporidium is finally to get compensation.

    Nicola Roberts (right), from Llangoed, Anglesey, was a happy and outgoing mum-of-three until she became one of 231 people affected by the bug after drinking tap water in November 2005.

    Two years later Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water pleaded guilty to supplying water “unfit for human consumption.”

    Dozens received compensation of between £1,300 and £5,000 after suffering symptoms like diarrhoea, stomach ache and fever for up to six weeks, others got more.

    Nicola, who has just become a grandmother, is one of those still suffering six years on. She was initially offered £10,000 by Dr Cymru but refused it, claiming loss of earnings over six years. Her case was settled out of court before trial last week after Dwr Cymru improved its offer.

    Nicola said: “They tested me and it was confirmed I had cryptosporidium. I was shocked. We weren’t told for about a month that the bug was in the water. It’s more embarrassing than anything else. I’m unable to go out anywhere. I’ve now got irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).”

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  • 2 sick in Scotland; recall of Loyd Grossman Korma sauces following botulism link

    Posted: November 13th, 2011 - 3:44pm by Doug Powell

    Preliminary tests carried out by the U.K. Health Protection Agency (HPA) have identified the toxin that causes botulism from a used jar of Loyd Grossman Korma sauce. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is advising consumers who have purchased the particular batch of the product to dispose of it and not consume. A full recall of this product batch has been issued and the sauce is being removed from shop shelves.

    This follows two cases of botulism in one family in Scotland where the contaminated jar of sauce was discovered. No further cases have been identified to date. There is no evidence to suggest that the samples taken from the jar for testing could have been separately contaminated from another source. Further tests on this and from another unused jar of the korma sauce taken from the home of the patients are underway.

    The affected batch is: 350g jars of Loyd Grossman Korma sauce with a best before date of February 2013. The sauce has a batch code of: 1218R 07:21

    Health professionals across the UK have been made aware of the suspected cases and advised to look out for people of all ages with possible symptoms.

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  • 46 sick with Shigella from imported fresh basil in Norway

    Posted: November 3rd, 2011 - 8:25pm by Doug Powell

    Eurosurveillance reports today an outbreak of Shigella in Norway that sickened at least 46 people.

    Two municipalities were involved. A large cluster (42 cases) was concentrated in north Norway, while a small cluster (4 cases) occurred in the south-east region. Epidemiological evidence and traceback investigations have linked the outbreak to the consumption of imported fresh basil. The product has been withdrawn from the market. No further cases have been reported since 25 October.

    On 9 October 2011, the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health was informed by the Municipal Medical Officer and the Local Food Safety Authority in Tromsø (northern Norway) about an unusually high number of cases of gastrointestinal disease caused by Shigella sonnei.

    A delicatessen and catering company located in the centre of Tromsø received several complaints from customers who had fallen ill with gastrointestinal symptoms after having eaten food items from there.

    On 14 October, a small cluster of cases who had not been to Tromsø were reported and the outbreak was classified as national.

    An outbreak case was defined as a person with gastrointestinal symptoms with laboratory confirmed infection with S. sonnei with indistinguishable multiple-locus variable number of tandem repeats analysis (MLVA) profiles in Norway after 1 October 2011.

    Traceback investigations of ingredients in the pesto served in Tromsø are still ongoing. The same distributer that provided the fresh basil to the catering company in Tromsø also delivered fresh basil to the restaurant implicated in the second cluster in south-east Norway. The distributor imported this herb from a country outside the European Union and has voluntarily withdrawn it from the market. The National Veterinary Institute analysed samples of pesto and other ingredients from the catering company in Tromsø. Samples available for analysis have been negative. An epidemic intelligence information system (EPIS) enquiry has been posted to determine whether other European countries have observed a similar increase in cases infected with S. sonnei. So far, no other countries have reported any recent increase in cases that can be linked to this outbreak.

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  • Finnish woman dies of botulism after eating organic olives

    Posted: October 28th, 2011 - 11:03pm by Doug Powell

    An elderly woman has died as a result of botulism poisoning, produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, after eating some Italian olives that contained the toxin.

    According to the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, she succumbed to the illness on Thursday.

    Another adult member of the same family remains in hospital.

    Prior to their illness, both had eaten from a jar of stuffed organic olives, which was subsequently discovered to contain the toxin, as reported by THL, the National Institute for Health and Welfare.

    The olives in question were manufactured and packaged in Italy, and the jar contains the Finnish wording "Gaudiano Bio oliivi mantelitäytteellä" (Gaudiano Organic Olives Stuffed with Almonds).

    The best-before dates on the product are 08/2012 or 09/2012 and the batch numbers H2510X or L1810X.

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  • 2 ill in Finland from botulism in olives

    Posted: October 25th, 2011 - 9:02pm by Doug Powell

    A batch of olives produced in Italy has been withdrawn from sale in the UK after two people in Helsinki, Finland, were diagnosed with botulism.

    Both people reported having eaten Gaudiano Organic Olives Stuffed with Almonds. Lab tests confirmed that the jar from which they had eaten the olives contained botulinum toxin. The tainted olives were in 314ml glass jars with a 'best before' date of 09/2012.

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  • Campylobacter outbreak sickens 30 on Isle of Wight

    Posted: October 21st, 2011 - 5:41am by Doug Powell

     Despite some scorching performances by The Who and others at the annual Isle of Wight festival, the island off the southern British coast can now claim host to a campylobacter outbreak that has sickened 30 school kids.

    The source of the outbreak has not been confirmed, but is subject to an ongoing investigation by the Isle of Wight Council and the Health Protection Agency.

     

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  • 206 sick after food poisoning hits NATO base in northern Afghanistan

    Posted: October 13th, 2011 - 3:04pm by Doug Powell

    Food poisoning has sickened 206 NATO soldiers who ate in a German army canteen at Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, defence authorities in Berlin said Thursday.

    They said the 138 Germans and 68 military from other nations quickly had quickly recovered from the symptoms and overall fighting strength was not affected.

    All had eaten Wednesday at the canteen in the ISAF regional headquarters in Mazar-i-Sharif. The kitchen was disinfected and preparation of meals resumed there on Thursday. Army scientists were still hunting for the source of the infection.

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  • Toilet brew strikes Utah prisoners with botulism

    Posted: October 6th, 2011 - 1:45am by Doug Powell

    The Salt Lake Valley Health Department confirmed Wednesday it is investigating an illness — suspected to be foodborne botulism — in 12 inmates of the Utah State Prison.

    The Salt Lake Tribune reports eight inmates, three of whom are in critical condition, are receiving treatment at a local hospital, and four are under medical observation at the prison.

    All the affected inmates consumed home-made alcohol brewed inside a cell at the prison, according to a health department news release.

    The inmates affected likely came in contact with the bacteria by drinking brew, alcohol made in a cell, apparently in a plastic bag. Inmates often use fruit, water and sugar to craft the brew, which they often hide in the cell’s toilet, and when those foods are in an anaerobic environment they can create a breeding ground for the bacteria.

    According to confiscation reports obtained earlier this year by The Tribune, brew is made fairly frequently, with 44 confiscations of the substance occurring between October 2009 and December 2010. However, the prison has not ever had a case of botulism, according to Nicholas Rupp, public information officer for the health department.

    But "there’s always a health risk any time there is inappropriate food handling," Rupp added.

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  • Cryptosporidium rampant in Ireland’s water

    Posted: October 3rd, 2011 - 9:39pm by Doug Powell

    Whether it’s a swimming pool in Wales, a rec center in Kansas, or anywhere in Ireland, the advice seems to be the same: don’t swallow to avoid cryptosporidium.

    The Irish Independent reports that Dr Frances Lucy, an ecologist and lecturer at the Department of Environmental Science at IT Sligo, has warned that anyone who feels ill following watersports on our lakes and rivers should contact a doctor.

    Concerns were raised after tests were carried out at Lough Gill, Co Sligo, and from the River Liffey, Dublin, as part of a joint research project being undertaken by IT Sligo and UCD. Dr Lucy's warning relates to the dangers for people who accidentally swallow water while swimming or taking part in watersports.

    Cryptosporidium is especially dangerous for anyone whose immune system is suppressed -- with AIDS patients, the elderly and babies regarded as particularly vulnerable.

    The study, which is being funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, hopes to establish why there is a spring peak in the number of human cryptosporidiosis cases in Ireland.

    With the final report due to be published in the middle of 2012, Dr Lucy revealed the preliminary findings suggest contamination in both locations is due to both animal and human waste.

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