Sweden

  • Danish pork recalled in Sweden for Salmonella

    Posted: July 29th, 2012 - 4:18pm by Doug Powell

    Food giant Axfood AB has been forced to recall two tonnes of pork, following test samples showing salmonella bacteria present in the meat.

    The Local reports the pork has been sold all over Sweden, but as of yet there have been no reports of anyone falling ill.

    According to Axfood’s press manager Ingmar Kroon, the affected meat is pork imported mainly from Denmark, including chops, marinated loin and mince. The products have been sold by supermarket chains Willys, Hemköp, Prisextraand Tempo.

    “We’re recalling it from all over the country, but we don’t know how much has already been sold,” he said to the TT news agency, adding, “but only some of the meat has been infected. …

    “It’s happened twice this summer that we’ve had infected meat from Denmark, and that might look bad, but Denmark isn’t bad at handling. I definitely don’t want to point the blame at them.”

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  • Cucumbers fingered again linked to foodborne microsporidia in Sweden

    Posted: January 26th, 2012 - 7:26pm by Doug Powell

    When a strain of shiga toxin producing E. coli (VTEC O8:H19) was found in Spanish cucumbers in May 2011 during the Germany-based sprout outbreak that killed 53 – and subsequently proven to not be the outbreak strain – producers and politicians focused on how public health got it wrong, and demands for compensation.

    Shouldn’t it have been worrisome that any shiga-toxin producing E. coli was found at retail, in a cucumber?

    Researchers in Sweden are now reporting that microsporidia may be an underreported source of foodborne illness after cucumbers were linked to dozens of sick people visiting a hotel in Sweden. Abstract below.

    Microsporidia are spore-forming intracellular parasites that infrequently cause disease in immunocompetent persons. This study describes the first report of a foodborne microsporidiosis outbreak which affected persons visiting a hotel in Sweden.

    Enterocytozoon bieneusi was identified in stool samples from 7/11 case-patients, all six sequenced samples were genotype C. To confirm that this was not a chance finding, 19 stool samples submitted by healthy persons from a comparable group who did not visit the hotel on that day were tested; all were negative for microsporidia. A retrospective cohort study identified 135 case-patients (attack rate 30%). The median incubation period was 9 days.

    Consumption of cheese sandwiches [relative risk (RR) 4·1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·4–12·2] and salad (RR 2·1, 95% CI 1·1–4) were associated with illness. Both items contained pre-washed, ready-to-eat cucumber slices.

    Microsporidia may be an under-reported cause of gastrointestinal outbreaks; we recommend that microsporidia be explored as potential causative agents in food- and waterborne outbreaks, especially when no other organisms are identified.

    Epidemiology and Infection March 2012, 140:519-527

    V. Decraene, M. Lebbad, S. Botero-Kleiven, A.-M. Gustavsson and M. Lofdahl

     

     

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  • Petting zoos shuttered in Sweden, UK, over disease fears

    Posted: August 5th, 2011 - 12:07pm by Doug Powell

    Sorenne’s day care had its own petting zoo on Thursday with sheep, ducks, and others. I’d been in Brisbane less than 24 hours and had to finish marking papers so didn’t stick around to observe the interactions, but I attempted to ensure the kids were going to be washing with soap and water, not just sanitizer, and that staff would be watching to minimize the hand-on-ruminant-and-into-mouth move favored by 2-year-olds.

    A petting zoo in southern Sweden closed its doors after it was confirmed that at least one foal was infected with salmonella.

    Although one park visitor was first suspected of contracting salmonella after petting the zoo's salmonella-infected pony, authorities are now saying there is no information about humans having been infected.

    In the U.K., a popular visitor attraction Cruckley Animal Farm has been permanently closed after an outbreak of E. coli.

    The family-run farm, at Foston-on-the-Wolds, had been a firm favorite with school children and families for almost quarter of a century.

    But now owners John and Sue Johnston have taken the decision to close the 60-acre site permanently after several visitors to the farm fell ill and a Health Protection Agency investigation launched.

    It is believed that six cases of E. coli O157 have been linked to the farm and Mr Johnston said they are working closely with the HPA to help them with their enquiries.
     

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  • Cook sprouts: Egyptian seeds most likely source of deadly E. coli

    Posted: July 5th, 2011 - 7:50am by Doug Powell

    A single shipment of fenugreek seeds from Egypt is the most likely source of a highly toxic E. coli epidemic in Germany which has killed 49 people and of a smaller outbreak in France, European investigators said on Tuesday.

    The European Food Safety Authority urged the European Commission to make "all efforts" to prevent any further consumer exposure to suspect seeds and advised consumers not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they are thoroughly cooked.

    Reuters reports more than 4,100 people in Europe and in North America have been infected in two outbreaks of E. coli infection -- one centred in northern Germany and one focused around the French city of Bordeaux.

    Almost all of those affected in the first outbreak -- the deadliest on record -- lived in Germany or had recently travelled there. The infection has killed 48 people in Germany and one person in Sweden so far.

    "The analysis of information from the French and German outbreaks leads to the conclusion that an imported lot of fenugreek seeds which was used to grow sprouts imported from Egypt by a German importer is the most common likely link," the EFSA said in a statement.

    A consignment of fenugreek seeds, from the batch believed to be the source of the EHEC infection in Germany and France, has been tracked to Sweden, according to the Swedish National Food Administration.

    The seeds have been recalled but 25 kilos have already arrived in Sweden. The National Food Administration has contacted the company Econova in Norrköping, who in their turn have stopped the sales and recalled already delivered bags of seeds.

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  • Best in show: dog show leads to E. coli outbreak in Sweden

    Posted: June 17th, 2011 - 8:52am by Doug Powell

    Around 50 dog owners and several dogs are believed to have been infected with enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) following a dog show in eastern Sweden.

    "We're right in the middle of investigating where the bacteria came from," Britt Åkerlind of the infectious disease unit of Östergötland County told The Local.

    So far, two Swedes have been confirmed as infected by EHEC, one from Skåne in the south, and another from Gothenburg in the west.

    "But we're expecting more confirmed cases to come in," said Åkerlind.

    Those infected with the bacteria all attended a dog show near Norrköping in eastern Sweden held the first weekend in June.

    Of the roughly 120 participants, who traveled from all over Sweden as well as from Denmark, Norway, and Finland, about half have come down with symptoms stemming from EHEC infection.

    "We've also received reports that some of the dogs have had upset stomachs," said Åkerlind, who labeled the outbreak as "quite large."

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  • Cryptosporidium strikes Sweden again; 1,500 sick

    Posted: April 21st, 2011 - 7:42am by Doug Powell

    Late in 2010, up to 11,000 people were sickened by cryptosporidium in Ostersund, Sweden.

    Today, The Local is reporting as many as 1,500 inhabitants in the municipality of Skellefteå in northern Sweden have confirmed in a survey that they have experienced stomach flu symptoms probably caused by a parasite outbreak.

    Results from tests of water samples following the parasite infection could be completed on Wednesday.

    The web survey conducted by Skellefteå and the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control (Smittskyddsinstitutet - SMI) had been answered by 2,300 residents of the municipality by Wednesday lunchtime. Of those around 60 percent, 1,500 people, confirmed that they experienced stomach flu symptoms since April 1st.

    Many complained of having had abdominal pain, diarrhea or gassy stomachs.
    The survey has confirmed theories that the stomach flu has probably been caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium could have originated in the municipal water supply, local authorities confirmed at a press conference in Skellefteå on Wednesday.

    SMI's results on drinking water samples, expected at the latest on Thursday could be completed already Thursday afternoon.

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  • Woman finds condom and receipt in milk drink in Sweden

    Posted: March 17th, 2011 - 6:48am by Doug Powell

    Tests were being carried out today on a container of a popular Swedish fermented milk drink after a woman claimed she found a condom and a receipt inside it.

    The woman, known only as Bejta, made the discovery at her home near Gothenburg, western Sweden, after she drank two cups of Arla Food's filmjolk, a sour-tasting fermented milk drink, and poured the remaining liquid into her dog's bowl, Swedish newspaper Expressen reported yesterday.

    To her surprise it was not only milk that appeared in the bowl - a pink-colored condom still in its packaging and a receipt also fell in.

    When Milica called Arla's customer services team she was told the discovery was "impossible".

    They suggested someone in the home must have placed the condom and receipt inside the product as prank.

    However, Milica told the newspaper that could not have happened.

    Arla Sweden spokeswoman Katarina Malmstrom told Expressen the company was waiting for an analysis of the container in a bid to assess what had happened.

    "I deeply regret that there was someone who fell victim to something like this, no matter what caused it," Ms Malmstrom said.

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  • Over 11,000 sick in Sweden cryptosporidium outbreak; source found

    Posted: December 11th, 2010 - 6:59am by Doug Powell

    Investigators in Ostersund, Sweden, say they traced a cryptosporidium outbreak that has sickened more than 11,000 residents to a multifamily dwelling in the city's Odensala neighborhood

    Ostersund environmental head Jari Hiltula told Swedish news agency TT,

    "We've found high levels of the parasite in the connection to this source. We've handed over the information to the police who are responsible for the investigation. A property owner will also be contacted."

    The parasite may have entered the city's water supply through a sewage line mistakenly connected to a rainwater drainage system, the report said.

    "It looks like the sewage pipe wasn't connected properly," said Andrew Sorensson, an environmental crimes investigator with the Ostersund police.

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  • 5,700 sick as Swedish city traces source of cryptosporidium in water supply

    Posted: December 2nd, 2010 - 11:03am by Doug Powell

    The water system in Östersund, in northern Sweden, has been found to contain an area with high levels of cryptosporidium which has left thousands of people ill and the city's water undrinkable.

    Östersund municipality is now considering how the area can be sealed off so that the parasite does not continue to reach the water treatment plant, it was revealed at the press conference (photo from The Local).

    Those responsible at the municipality would not reveal if the area was found in water or on land.

    The details of the tests were passed on to police and prosecutors this morning.

    Nearly one in ten residents of Östersund has now been hit by a stomach bug caused by the parasite in the municipal water supply.

    Two operating rooms at Östersund Hospital are today closed due to the rampaging stomache flu.

    The infection has hit hospital staff - with almost 200 workers at home from work on Thursday, according to Sveriges Television (SVT). Hospital management expects an increasing number of sick staff over the next few days.

    The hospital has 3000 liters of clean water driven in every day in order to secure water supplies.

     

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  • Crypto crime probe in Sweden

    Posted: November 30th, 2010 - 10:57am by Doug Powell

    Police said today a criminal investigation is under way in Sweden to determine how an intestinal parasite ended up in the town of Ostersund's municipal water supply, sickening more than 2,000 residents.

    Environmental prosecutor Christer B. Jarlas said release of the parasite cryptosporidium may have been the result of criminal negligence, the Swedish news agency TT reported Tuesday.

    He said he has reason to believe that the contamination was due to carelessness by one or several individuals who didn't have control of their operations.

    Sweden's National Center for Infectious Disease Control told TT the 50,000 residents of Ostersund will have to boil their water for several weeks.
     

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