Poorly cleaned public cruise ship restrooms may predict norovirus outbreaks
Chapman says that while dirty bathrooms can be gross, like the gotcha moments on hidden camera programs, there really isn't any information that suggests a place with a dirty bathroom is any more or less likely to cause an outbreak than a place with a clean bathroom. Lots of restaurants have separate handwashing facilities in the kitchen, and risk-based inspection systems focus on factors that lead to illness as identified by the CDC and WHO -- not the floors, walls and ceilings, and how many flies are on a fly strip.
But what about on cruise ships?
A team of researchers from Boston University School (BUSM), Carney Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance and Tufts University School of Medicine, have found that widespread poor compliance with regular cleaning of public restrooms on cruise ships may predict subsequent norovirus infection outbreaks (NoVOs).
This study, which appears in the November 1st issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, is the first study of environmental hygiene on cruise ships.
Outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) often occur in close populations, such as among cruise ship passengers. Recent epidemiologic investigations of outbreaks of AGE confirmed that 95 percent of cruise ship AGE outbreaks are caused by norovirus.
Despite biannual sanitation monitoring and hand hygiene interventions among passengers and crew members, 66 ships monitored by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experienced NoV infection outbreaks (NoVOs) between 2003 and 2008.
Trained health care professionals evaluated the thoroughness of disinfection cleaning of six standardized objects (toilet seat, flush handle or button, toilet stall inner handhold, stall inner door handle, restroom inner door handle, and baby changing table surfaces) with high potential for fecal contamination in cruise ship public restrooms.
The researchers found only 37 percent of the 273 randomly selected public restrooms that were evaluated on 1,546 occasions were cleaned daily. The overall cleanliness of the six standardized surfaces on each ship ranged from four to 100 percent. Although some objects in most restrooms were cleaned at least daily, on 275 occasions no objects in a restroom were cleaned for at least 24 hours.
Fat Duck spared, chippy owner charged by local council after E. coli O157 illnesses
The Fat Duck sickened 529 customers with norovirus, adopted a ridiculous PR strategy, and continues to blame others even though employees were working sick. The local council decided not to prosecute.
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The Llay Fish Bar, thought to be the source of an E. coli O157 outbreak that sickened four including a new mother left in a coma, will be prosecuted by the Wrexham Council.
It’s like television sports presenter and Fat Duck norovirus victim Jim Rosenthal said a couple of days ago:
“If it was a café at a lay-by doing what he did they would have been taken to court long ago.”
Boxing promoter Frank Warren, who is also still awaiting compensation, said,
"The whole way they have handled this has been a disaster from start to finish. To hear that the council isn't going to take him on doesn't surprise me – it's just because of who he is rather than what he's done or not done.”
Fat Duck won't face charges - 'I'll never set foot in there again' says food poisoning victim
The Telegraph reports this morning that Heston Blumenthal and the Fat Duck restaurant – home to 529 cases of norovirus earlier this year – will not face criminal charges despite failures in reporting illness and what appears to be an overall lack of food safety awareness.
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Windsor and Maidenhead Council said that although the restaurant could have taken greater steps to combat the norovirus outbreak, there was insufficient evidence to take formal action.
Jim Rosenthal, the television sports presenter, who was among those affected after dining at the restaurant to celebrate his wife Chrissy's birthday, said,
“I'm disappointed but not surprised. Unfortunately, the council has probably been forced to take a pragmatic view and decide against what would probably be the enormous cost of mounting a case against someone who can afford the best lawyers." If it was a café at a lay-by doing what he did they would have been taken to court long ago. Chrissy and I will never set foot in there again.”
Boxing promoter Frank Warren, who is also still awaiting compensation, said,
"The whole way they have handled this has been a disaster from start to finish. To hear that the council isn't going to take him on doesn't surprise me – it's just because of who he is rather than what he's done or not done.”
A spokeswoman for the Duckster claimed that the HPA report was "flawed" and continued to blame others.
“We are not surprised by the local authority's decision, given that the Health Protection Agency's report clearly concludes that responsibility for the outbreak lies with a shellfish supplier and the local water authority after its shellfish was contaminated with the norovirus. Regarding the assumptions made about The Fat Duck in the report, both our own experts and those appointed by our insurers believe them to be flawed.”
Compelling and disgusting messages might work better
As outbreaks of H1N1 continue to strike campuses across North America, our paper “University Students’ Hand Hygiene Practice During a Gastrointestinal Outbreak in Residence: What They Say They Do and What They Actually Do,”, keeps getting a bit of run. And a common discussion topic focuses on strategies that might work to affect hand hygiene practices.
One of the solutions we talk about is tailoring messages to the target audience. This means communicate with them like they talk amongst themselves and use trusted methods to get risk-reduction info out.
Bell and colleagues at Washington State University did this with their raw milk/Abuela project a decade ago. 
Recent publications out of the UK and Australia have focused on emotion and disgust in message building and even within a target audience, gender is a factor in intervention effectiveness.
These four papers demonstrate that generic, sanitized messages might be a waste of time and resources. A better bang for the public health buck might come from something more compelling and engaging. Or as Doug mentioned to the Nebraskan, "Wash your damn hands," and follow up with the consequences of not. They may or may not actually change their practices, but maybe you got their attention.
If you yak on your cat, what's the best way to clean it and avoid norovirus transmission?
Amy has covered what to do if a student pukes in class; Ben and Mayra have made up a groovy infosheet on cleaning procedures.
But what if you yak on your cat or dog?
Specifically, as Scott Weese asks at the Worms & Germs Blog, when he should be enjoying turkey in Guelph, how do you disinfect a cat?
Weese explains how a colleague’s wife once had norovirus and spewed on the family cat, and says, dogs and cats cannot become infected with norovirus. However, they could act as a source of infection is their coat was contaminated.
Weese figures a bath is the best way to go (not the oven, right) and that anyone bathing a heavily contaminated animal should wear a mask and gloves, change their clothes after, clean any contaminated surfaces with bleach or another disinfectant and wash their hands.
He also concludes that the easiest way to handle this is to avoid vomiting on pets.
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The Fat Duck Cookbook has no suggestions on how to avoid norovirus and barfing on expensive food
A review of Heston Blumenthal’s, The Fat Duck Cookbook, appeared in this morning’s edition of the U.K. Independent newspaper.
Among the highlights:
“Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck Cookbook is presumably intended as a souvenir for those who have laid out £130 on the Tasting Menu at Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant in Bray. At least it will give them a lasting memory of the meal. From several Fat Duck customers, I have heard complaints that they were far from replete after the experience. Though it is called a cookbook, scarcely anyone will ever cook from this volume. Many dishes call for specialist equipment and recondite ingredients. A dessert called Lime Grove requires liquid nitrogen, a Dewar flask, malic acid and high methoxyl confectioner's pectin. Even the simpler dishes call for more time and application than anyone but an extreme culinary obsessive will want to spend. “
No mention in the review or the book about how to control the spread of norovirus in an upscale restaurant. Fortunately, the U.K. Health Protection Agency has published some suggestions.
"it's not food poisoning, it's likely norovirus." Um, sometimes they are the same
According to the Dumfries & Galloway Standard (UK), a Dumfries hotel has temporarily shut after 20 patrons who ate there complained of illnesses.
Owner Aileen McGhie told the Standard she was not ordered to close the three-star hotel, and took the decision to do so herself in a bid to clean the premises from top to bottom.
She said: “A few people fell ill last week after being a guest or a diner at the hotel and we are still waiting for test results. I called environmental health myself and it is assumed it is an outbreak of the Norovirus. Rumours that it is food poisoning are completely false.
Um, Aileen, sometimes they are the same thing. While cruiseships and hospitals get a lot of press for norovirus, the majority of reported norovirus outbreaks are associated with foodservice settings or events, and have higher attack rates than other settings. While the difference between classical food poisoning might matter to you, many of the control measures are the same (reducing cross-contamination, good personal hygiene, doing a good job at cleaning up barf).
Owner Aiellen McGhie went on to say:
“Twenty people is not actually a high number considering the hundreds of people we had in the hotel that week."
It's possible that one dish or food handler is implicated in -- my guess is that not everyone ate everything on the menu. Foodborne illness cases are also consistently under reported and might contribute to the "low numbers". And it probably doesn't matter to the barfing customers.
Fat Duck criticizes health types at chef conference
From the this-guy-just-can’t-shut up file, Heston Blumenthal whined, err, told a conference in London yesterday that the Health Protection Agency (HPA) should do more to support the industry, stating,
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“There is a real lack of support to restaurants from the HPA when it comes to handling something like a norovirus outbreak and it is only because of the status of the Fat Duck that we survived this. If we were a small independent restaurant, we would have been forced to close as a result of this. Our industry is so fragile and there is so little support.”
The HPA released a report on its investigation into the norovirus outbreak at the Fat Duck, which affected more than 500 diners, earlier this month stating the official cause was contaminated shellfish. Among the findings:
• oysters were served raw;
• razor clams may not have been appropriately handled or cooked;
• the outbreak continued for at least six weeks (between January 6 and February 22) because of ongoing transmission at the restaurant - which may have occurred through continuous contamination of foods prepared in the restaurant or by person-to-person spread between staff and diners or a mixture of both
; and,
• several weaknesses in procedures at the restaurant may have contributed to ongoing transmission including delayed response to the incident, staff working when they should have been off sick and using the wrong environmental cleaning products
Blumenthal went on to tell the conference that both the experts appointed by the Fat Duck and those by its insurers believed that there were a number of flaws in the HPA report, including its criticism of the restaurant’s staff sickness policy and its use of anti-bacterial cleaning agents.
“Some of the elements in the report were supposition,” he said.
Blumenthal also criticized HPA for the way it released the report, arguing he and his team of insurers and legal experts were given no time to analyse its findings before it was released to the public.
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“We were told we would be given 24 hours to analyse the report before it would be released to the public but in fact we were only given three hours,” he said.
That’s more warning than the 529 people who were barfing on widely expensive food porn received.
And Heston, there’s nothing that builds consumer confidence more than have a government agency in tight with the industry it regulates. It’s the Health Protection Agency, not the Boost Restaurant Revenues Agency. HPA is to protect human health, and encourage places like restaurants to do the same. Making 529 customers sick is bad for business, but not the fault of the HPA.
This guy provides so much material I don’t have to resort to calling him the love child of Alton Brown and longtime Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Mats Sundin.
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Fat Duck still spinning but sorry for making 529 diners sick 7 months ago
I don’t know who does public relations for the Fat Duck restaurant but they should be fired.
Seven months after sickening 529 customers with norovirus, Fat Duck chef Heston Blumenthal today said,
"I am relieved to be able to finally offer my fullest apologies to all those who were affected by the outbreak at the Fat Duck. It was extremely frustrating to not be allowed to personally apologise to my guests until now.
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"It was devastating to me and my whole team, as it was to many of our guests and I wish to invite them all to return to the Fat Duck at their convenience."
Wow. Saying sorry is not an expression of guilt. It is an expression of empathy. Like, that really sucks you and 528 other people are barfing. I barfed once and it felt awful. Hope you feel better.
Some spokesthingy for the restaurant said,
"The Fat Duck, its insurers, experts and legal advisers only received a copy of this report a few hours before its publication and have only now had time to consider its contents. This meant that until all these parties had had the opportunity to review it and take expert advice it wasn't appropriate or indeed possible to comment in detail on its contents or respond fully to our customers.”
Of course, that didn’t stop Blumenthal from issuing his own delusional statement on Sept. 10, 2009, as soon as the Health Protection Agency report was released:
“We are glad that the report has finally been published and draws a conclusion to the closure of the Fat Duck and more importantly that the norovirus has been identified as the cause and not due to any lapse in our strict food preparation processes. We were affected by this virus during a national outbreak of what is an extremely common and highly contagious virus. The restaurant has been open as normal since March 12 and I would like to reassure our guests that they can continue to visit us with total confidence.”
All apologies aside, the report clearly stated that the norovirus outbreak – linked to the consumption of raw oysters -- continued for at least six weeks because of "ongoing transmission at the restaurant” through "continuous contamination of foods prepared in the restaurant or by person-to-person spread between staff and diners or a mixture of both." The report also identified poor reporting and sick staff showing up and working as factors in making the outbreak far worse than it should have been.
Saying sorry is nice but never enough. The Fat Duck should be judged on its food safety actions.
The B at Peppone restaurant doesn't stand for Britney
Being an avid fan of stalker-esque gossip sites, I was interested to see the popular celebrity eatery Peppone appear in my Google Alerts this morning. The likes of Britney Spears and Mark Wahlberg have dined at the Brentwood, California restaurant, and in the past the A grade at the restaurant didn’t just invite A-list celebrities.
A recent inspection, however, revealed a drop from A to B, reports Brentwood Blogged. Included in the inspection findings was evidence of a major cockroach infestation.
Will the drop from A to B cause a drop in patronage as well?
Poisoned diners start lawsuit against 'unapologetic' celebrity chef Blumenthal; response called 'pathetic'
The UK Health Protection Agency report into an outbreak of norovirus that felled 529 diners at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant on Sept. 10, 2009, clearly identified poor reporting and employees working while sick as contributing factors to the outbreak.
Blumenthal decided to ignore this and take to the Interwebs with his own revisionist version of what went wrong earlier this year.
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This has upset some of the victims, who are now taking Blumenthal to court.
This morning, London’s Daily Mail online reports many are furious that Mr Blumenthal has refused to pay a penny in compensation, and at least two legal firms have initiated legal action.
Television presenter Jim Rosenthal, who was sickened, called Blumenthal’s response, “pathetic.”
“He has basically attempted to re-write the HPA report and its conclusions in his favour. It is pathetic and a complete PR disaster. There isn’t even a hint of apology.
“At first I was extremely sympathetic to Heston Blumenthal, but the way this has been mishandled beggars belief. I could not believe what I was reading in this email – it was like we had been sent different reports. I am taking them to court and a lot of other people are too. A simple apology might have ended all this a long time ago.”
Mr Blumenthal’s spokesman said:
“We are reviewing the report, which we only received on September 10, and won’t comment until we have completed that review.”
But they did comment, on Sept. 10. Clueless.
I learned about the outbreak from Puking Veronika
That's one of the responses Brae Surgeoner, Doug and I received when we asked University of Guelph students how they got information that a norovirus outbreak was happening on campus a couple of years ago. The kids were getting information through non-official channels and rumours were high. A lesson that was learned from the outbreak was to communicate with the target audience (whether it be college students or folks in a long-term care facility) with mediums they are already comfortable with.
I got an email from a couple of folks at Guelph this morning saying that our recently published Journal of Environmental Health article where the above results and conclusions were shared is making the rounds on campus. Here are some of the highlights from the interview I did with Katie Mangan at the Chronicle of Higher Education.
"We couldn't follow students into the bathroom, because that leads to ethical problems," Mr. Chapman says. So the researchers focused on whether students were using a plastic bottle of hand-sanitizing gel placed at the entrance of a cafeteria that had been described to them as "ground zero" of the outbreak.
"What people do and what they say with regard to hand hygiene are two different things," Mr. Chapman reports.
He says health officials should aim their messages at specific audiences, such as students living in a particular residence hall. Instant messaging and other social-media tools should be used as well.
"It really hits home," he notes, "when their classmates start changing their IM names to something like Puking Veronica."
Gotta know how to reach the kids with health messages; make it relevant and compelling. Check out www.foodsafetyinfosheets to see how we attempt to do that.
17 per cent of students used hand sanitizer during norovirus outbreak; NZ study reports same result
“It looks pretty sweet. It looks awesome. That suit, it’s incredible.”
One of the best lines from the movie, Napolean Dynamite, and one that came to mind when I read about a New Zealand study that found 18 per cent of people at a hospital used a hand sanitizer.
We found 17 per cent of students during a norovirus outbreak at the University of Guelph used a prominently displayed hand sanitizer back in 2006.
Maybe that’s just the rate of people paying attention to handwashing. Who knows about these things? Our study was written up in the Chronicle of Higher Education today, with Ben making lots of pithy quotes.
The 2009 New Zealand study appeared in Eurosurveillance this morning and the abstract is below.
The hand hygiene behaviours of the public in response to the current H1N1 influenza pandemic 2009 (or other pandemics) have not previously been described. An observational study was undertaken to examine hand hygiene behaviours by people passing a hand sanitiser station in the foyer of a public hospital in New Zealand in August 2009. Of the 2,941 subjects observed, 449 (18.0%, 95% confidence interval: 16.6, 19.6) used the hand sanitiser. This is a far from optimal result in response to the health promotion initiatives in the setting of a pandemic. These findings suggest the need for more effective health promotion of hand hygiene and also provide baseline measurements for future evaluation of hygiene practices.
Someone's looking for some advertizing dollars: UK's Independent says norovirus at Fat Duck was 'a freakish occurrence;' check toilets for cleanliness
I first went to London in 1993. I was once again a graduate student, someone looked after the older two girls, and we took 6-week-old Braunwynn.
I loved to get a morning coffee – which cost about $895.58 pounds or something outrageous -- and reading the broadsheet newspaper, The Independent.
About that time I also realized, The Independent sorta sucked.
Rob Sharp writes in today’s Independent that Robin Hancock – not the musician, but the proprietor of Wright Brothers, an oyster wholesaler which supplies top restaurants – says the risks are overblown. In fact, he says, oysters should be enjoyed because they are full of vitamins, iron, calcium and are low in cholesterol.
"I would like to set the record straight," he says. "food poisoning from oysters is something from the past. We sell four to five tonnes of oysters a week – that's nearly 60,000 or 2.5 million a year – and we get maybe four or five cases of food poising in that time. What happened at the Fat Duck was somewhat of a freakish occurrence." Several thousand fishermen breathe a sigh of relief.
Fat Duck was 529. That’s more than four or five.
Hancock recommends the old adage of "checking to see if the toilets are clean" when venturing into a restaurant; general levels of hygiene can be a useful clue.
Not useful.
“We should not make too much of the viral thing; it is exceptionally rare. Again, I think the staff at the Fat Duck – where they are obsessed with a clinical, almost scientific preparation of food and are more than aware of these processes – were incredibly unlucky."
Or incredibly sloppy.
Fat Duck outbreak redux -- food safety infosheet version
This week's food safety infosheet, directed at foodservice staff is attached here. The infosheet focuses on an outbreak at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant which happened earlier this year. 
While norovirus illnesses were initially linked to patrons who ate shellfish, health authorities believe that ill staff members handling other food also contributed to the length and scope of the outbreak.
Michelin Stars don't mean anything when it comes to food safety culture.
Download the Fat Duck food safety infosheet here.
Health agency reports Fat Duck was slow to report food scare; celebrity chef says everything's fine; 529 barfing diners disagree
Celebrity chef, molecular gastrologest and Alton Brown-Mats Sundin love child, Heston Blumenthal may be delusional. Or illiterate. He certainly didn’t read the report from the U.K. Health Protection Agency which was released this morning.
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“Several weaknesses in procedures at the restaurant may have contributed to ongoing transmission including: delayed response to the incident; staff working when they should have been off sick and using the wrong environmental cleaning products. Delays in notification of illness may have affected the ability of the investigation to identify the exact reason for the norovirus contamination.”
Blumenthal responded in an e-mailed release:
“We are glad that the report has finally been published and draws a conclusion to the closure of the Fat Duck and more importantly that the norovirus has been identified as the cause and not due to any lapse in our strict food preparation processes. We were affected by this virus during a national outbreak of what is an extremely common and highly contagious virus. The restaurant has been open as normal since March 12 and I would like to reassure our guests that they can continue to visit us with total confidence.”
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Sourcing food is the chef’s job; serving raw oysters is silly; delaying the reporting of illnesses is dumb; sick employees working and furthering the spread of the virus is stupid. No confidence at all.
Celebrity chef dumbass: Fat Duck felled by norovirus in raw oysters; 'weaknesses in procedures - delayed response to incident'
Chapman occasionally comes up with a good line. Usually, I do all the work on a piece (at least in my mind), and he’ll put in one sentence, but it will be the one that is remembered.
Why didn’t I think of that?
Chapman described celebrity chef and molecular gastrologest Heston Blumenthal (below, right) as the love child of Alton Brown and longtime Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Mats Sundin (right).
Why didn’t I think of that.
Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant – which is consistently rated as the best in the U.K. – was the source of over 500 illnesses in early 2009. At the time, Blumenthal said, “tests for viral infections and food poisoning have proved negative and there is speculation that the winter outbreak of norovirus could be the real reason why they became sick.”
Way to blame the consumer, those paying hundreds of pounds for the privilege of barfing.
The U.K. Health Protection Agency published a report on the outbreak today that concluded:
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* There was a large outbreak of food poisoning among diners at the Fat Duck Restaurant in January and February 2009, with more than 500 reporting illness - over 15% of those dining there during this period
* The organism responsible was norovirus which was probably introduced via shellfish (more diners who ate shellfish dishes reported illness). Oysters were served raw; razor clams may not have been appropriately handled or cooked; tracing of shellfish to source showed evidence of contamination and there have been reports of illness in other establishments associated with oysters from the same source
* The outbreak continued for at least six weeks (between January 6 and February 22) because of ongoing transmission at the restaurant - which may have occurred through continuous contamination of foods prepared in the restaurant or by person-to-person spread between staff and diners or a mixture of both
* Several weaknesses in procedures at the restaurant may have contributed to ongoing transmission including: delayed response to the incident; staff working when they should have been off sick and using the wrong environmental cleaning products
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* Delays in notification of illness may have affected the ability of the investigation to identify the exact reason for the norovirus contamination
It’s the chef’s responsibility to source food from safe sources. And if the chef thinks raw shellfish is a smart thing to serve, and to have sick workers working, then, customers get what they pay for.
The kids might be alright, if they start washing their hands
Brae Surgeoner, Doug and I had a paper published in the September 2009 Journal of Environmental Health about some research we conducted in the Winter of 2006. The study came about because a whole bunch of kids in the University of Guelph's residence system started puking from an apparent norovirus outbreak. There were lots of handwashing signs up and we wanted to know whether they changed hygiene behavior (especially if kids were using the tools available when entering the cafeteria). Turns out that the kids weren't doing as good of a job at hand hygiene as they reported to us.
NC State's press release is below (the Kansas State release is here):
As public health experts warn of potential widespread outbreaks of H1N1 flu this school year, a new study from North Carolina State University shows that students do not comply with basic preventative measures as much as they think do. In other words, the kids aren’t washing their hands.
“Hand washing is a significant preventative measure for many communicable diseases, from respiratory diseases like H1N1 to foodborne illness agents, such as norovirus,” says Dr. Ben Chapman, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences and food safety extension specialist at NC State. The new study, which examined student compliance with hand hygiene recommendations during an outbreak of norovirus at a university in Ontario, finds that only 17 percent of students followed posted hand hygiene recommendations – but that 83 percent of students reported that they had been in compliance. Norovirus causes gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting and diarrhea. Every year there are 30 to 40 outbreaks of norovirus on university campuses, affecting thousands of students.
Chapman, who co-authored the research, says this is the first study to observe student hygiene behavior in the midst of an outbreak. Previous studies examined self-reporting data after an outbreak – and the new research shows that the self-reporting data may be inaccurate.
“Typically, health officials put up posters and signs and rely on self-reporting to determine whether these methods are effective,” Chapman says. “And people say they are washing their hands more. But, as it turns out, that’s not true.
“The study shows that while health authorities may give people the tools we think they need to limit the spread of an outbreak, the information we’re giving them is not compelling enough to change their behavior. Basically, it doesn’t work. But we do it again with every outbreak, and we’re doing it now with H1N1.”
Chapman says the study shows that health officials need to target specific audiences, such as students in a particular dorm or who eat at a particular cafeteria, and tailor their information to those audiences. For example, telling them where the nearest washrooms are, or pointing out where hand sanitizer units are located. “The more specific the information is for an audience, the better off you are,” Chapman says.
Chapman adds that health authorities also need to use language appropriate to their target audience. “For example, don’t refer to something as a ‘gastrointestinal illness,’” he says, “instead, tell them ‘this could make you puke’ or ‘dude, wash your hands.’ The idea is to craft compelling messages that create discussion in that audience. Make them talk about it.”
Chapman also says that health officials should take advantage of social media, such as text messaging and Facebook, to raise awareness. “If your audience consists of students,” he explains, “you should use media that students use.
“Campuses need to expect outbreaks will happen and plan accordingly. Have the response tools in hand.”
The study, “University Students’ Hand Hygiene Practice During a Gastrointestinal Outbreak in Residence: What They Say They Do and What They Actually Do,” was co-authored by Chapman, Dr. Douglas Powell of Kansas State University and Brae Surgeoner, a former graduate student at the University of Guelph. The study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Environmental Health.
Norovirus sends UK campers packing
"At night all you could hear was vomiting from every corner. I've never experienced anything like it. People were simply zipping up their tents and leaving — they just wanted to get out of there.”
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That’s the dream lede for a barfblog.com post, although probably not pleasant for some 150 campers stricken at a North Devon campsite.
"Almost every tent on the site was affected. There were so many sick children — it was an awful sight to witness.”
North Devon Council said the owners took the decision to close the campsite.
The site has a private water supply which has been closed off due to possible contamination.
Make customers barf, score a perfect rating
Food safety culture is miniscule compared to food porn culture.
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How is it that Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant was rated as a perfect 10 in the new edition of the Good Food Guide 2010, despite being closed for a norovirus outbreak?
Making customers barf doesn’t seem to count in the scoring system.
Good Food Guide editor and food porn aficionado Elizabeth Carter, said
"It is the most extraordinary restaurant in Britain. … It’s a destination restaurant, a place you save up to go to, and you will remember it forever."
Especially the barfing.
Norovirus outbreak at hospital in New Zealand
Although Katie Filion (fellow BarfBlogger) lives in Wellington, New Zealand, I trust she washes her hands properly and often, so I’m not too worried about her and the latest report of norovirus outbreak in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Palmerston North Hospital has reported a possible norovirus outbreak. Patients and staff, 13 and 11, respectively, have been affected with this stomach bug. Earlier this year, 240 staff members and 88 patients were affected causing 31 major surgeries to be postponed.
To reduce the spread of infection, handwashing is being promoted to staff, patients, and visitors. Additional handwashing stations have been set up at the front hospital entrance, outside the entrance of each ward, and other places around the hospital. Visitor hours have been reduced to only 6 hours in the afternoon and patient property must be dropped off and collected at each ward entrance.
Norovirus in frozen raspberries
Albert Amgar, a food safety consultant in Laval, France for the past 21 years and the provider of all things French and food safety for bites.ksu.edu, steps out in his first barfblog post.
National Food Safety Authority Evira recommends that foreign frozen raspberries always be properly heated before use. Norovirus epidemics have occurred in different parts of Finland over the spring and the cause is suspected to be foreign frozen raspberries used in cakes without heating.
Evira urges consumers and mass caterers to check the origin of frozen raspberries and to only use foreign raspberries after adequate heating in order to avoid food poisoning. Frozen raspberries of foreign origin should be heated for at least two minutes at 90 degrees Celcius.
The problem is well known. In 1995, scientists from Denmark reported that "imported frozen raspberries caused a series of norovirus outbreaks". But in the conclusions the authors noted, very friendly to their other European colleagues, "As Polish frozen raspberries are known to be exported to several European countries, it would be extremely surprising, if Denmark were the only country where there were recent outbreaks due to frozen raspberries.”
Tour group affected by Noro in British Columbia
Not a scheduled stop on a BC tour, a group of travelers from Australia became ill with Norwalk virus while staying at the Fairmont Chateau this week, reports Whistlerquestion.com.
Twenty-three guests were quarantined in their rooms for most of Monday and part of Tuesday (June 1 and 2), suffering from Norwalk virus, a public health official said this week.
The guests were part of a 100-member tour group from the Brisbane area in Australia.
Dr. Paul Martiquet, public health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, explained,
“Apparently there’s something in common that has caused [this group] to come down with this Norwalk virus.”
[T]he affected tour group recently rode the Rocky Mountaineer train from Calgary to Vancouver before visiting Whistler. The next stop on the itinerary was the Empress Hotel in Victoria, [Martiquet] said. Healthy members of the group were allowed to carry on with their itinerary.
Martiquet emphasized the importance of handwashing in control of noroviruses, continuing,
“It’s basically self-limiting and the key for any virus is handwashing — that goes for normal viruses or Norovirus, you name it.”
BC Elementary interschool track meet struck with Noro
From Katie Filion on assignment in New Zealand:
I have virtually no athletic capabilities, but during my elementary school days I was quite the track star. OK, maybe not a star, but I was good enough to make the track and field team. I remember winning a few races, but usually a day at the track resulted in an embarrassing sunburn. Students at Arden Elementary school in British Columbia weren’t so lucky, with more than one hundred students sent home from the track meet with Norwalk-like virus, reports Comox Valley Echo.
Dr. Jordan Tinney, superintendent of the school said the health department was contacted and the symptoms are consistent with Norwalk. The virus affected no other schools at the track meet.
Dr. Charmine Enns, Comox Valley medical health officer, said,
"Norwalk or Norovirus is ubiquitous. It's in all of our communities. It's easily transmitted because people have very little warning that they're going to get sick."
Enns stressed that gastro-intestinal illnesses of any type could be thwarted with good hygiene, especially hand washing.
While lab diagnosis had not been sought out, Enns said she was confident the students had been struck with Norwalk.
She explained,
"Typically if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it probably is a duck. And it's quacking and walking like Norovirus."
Arden Elementary has been thoroughly sanitized and nearly all students have returned to classes.
The Birdman returns from possible noro, Nuggets finish off the Mavs
After a bout of a gastro illness on Monday night which caused him to miss Game 4, Chris Andersen, nicknamed The Birdman, was back in action tonight for the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets downed the Mavs 124-110 to take the best-of-7 series in 5 games.
According to the Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune:
On Monday, Andersen was on the court for pregame introductions, but the Nuggets' 6-foot-10 post player then went back to the locker room and wasn't seen on the bench again. When the team returned after halftime, Andersen wasn't with them and the Nuggets said he wouldn't play.
Sounds like The Birdman picked up some noro somewhere but declared himself healthy today after a couple of days on IV for dehydration.
Asked if he would be ready for tonight, Andersen said, "I'm going to have a really large storage of energy."
And boom goes the dynamite.
Obama also says, if you're sick, stay at home
It’s not swine flu, it’s people coming to work when they’re barfing. I understand it’s probably not the person’s fault – they may get fired if they don’t show up. But barfing employees should not be serving food. And that’s exactly what happened to 46 other employees at a Des Plaines, Ill., company last week.
The 46 workers at UOP, a manufacturing technology company, were infected by a norovirus -- a stomach bug -- that apparently was carried by a food service worker at the firm, said Amy Poore, a spokeswoman for the Cook County Department of Public Health.
Suspected norovirus at south Sioux City, Nebraska, restaurant
A restaurant/bar in South Sioux City has closed down voluntarily to disinfect its premises after dozens of people became ill after eating there, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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The restaurant/bar at the Marina Inn has closed temporarily on the advice of health officials.
Symptoms are consistent with a norovirus, a highly contagious virus that is spread person to person or by food.
Norovirus probable at Swedish pizza joint; almost 600 sick
Pizzeria Alcamo in Jönköping – which is apparently in southern Sweden – was closed Thursday and by today, 593 people said they were sick after a visit or a slice.
It is not yet known whether patrons fell ill as a result of food poisoning or a fast-spreading outbreak of the winter vomiting virus.
The council's health and safety office has carried out tests on kebab meat, iceberg lettuce and kebab sauce in a bid to isolate the source of the outbreak.
FDA warning: Avoid oysters recently harvested from Mississippi area 2C
Last week several patrons of the Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar became ill after eating raw oysters. Health department tests confirm that eleven consumers of the Chattanooga, Tennessee restaurant were infected with norovirus.
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Now the Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning to avoid oysters recently harvested from Mississippi area 2C between Feb. 24 and Mar 17, 2009.
Retailers and food service operators can check the tag or labeling that should accompany all raw molluscan shellfish to verify its origin… Consumers who are uncertain about the origin of oysters should contact the place of purchase to determine if the oysters are from the affected area… Individuals who have eaten raw oysters harvested from the affected area during the specified dates and have experienced symptoms of norovirus infection are encouraged to contact their healthcare provider and local health department.
Oysters filter large quantities of water; therefore if there are contaminants in the water they can be picked up in the oysters, causing illness if consumed raw or improperly cooked. In the past contaminated water or infected food handlers have been the cause of norovirus outbreaks linked to raw oysters.
Norovirus in a castle
While attending university in Guelph I made the trek from Sault Ste. Marie, through Michigan, a few times a year. A quick Google Maps search reveals Lake Orion, MI, where Canterbury Castle is located, was less than an hour off my regular route.
According to ClickOnDetroit.com, nearly 100 people have become ill with what is believed to be norovirus, after dining at the castle this week.
Nevin Mitchell, who attended a fundraiser with his family at the castle, said,
"First we threw up, a lot, until we couldn't throw up anymore. Then we had severe muscle and stomach cramps. And diarrhea, I'm afraid to admit."
Nevin and his family were luckier than others. According to the fundraiser organizer, one attendee was treated for four days after becoming ill.
“Complete weakness. He couldn't even lift his hand up to take a phone number down for the health department from me."
People who attended two other Canterbury Castle events, including a wedding, also became ill that night. The [Oakland County Health Department] said the virus is usually spread by improper hand washing.
What’s more important, is encouraging food handlers to stay home if they are ill, and for 2 or 3 days after feeling better in the case of norovirus. Many outbreaks of norovirus have occurred in foodservice.
Symptoms of norovirus typically appear 12 to 48 hours after ingestion of the virus, and include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, usually lasting for 1 or 2 days.
Chattanooga oyster bar strikes again
In January, 19 people became ill after eating oysters at The Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Now, the same establishment has been linked to 9 ill persons who ate at the restaurant between March 5th and 8th, reports WTVC-TV.
[The Chattanooga-Hamilton County] Health Department conducted the investigation to determine the cause of the illness… Laboratory testing of ill individuals identified Norovirus as the cause. The establishment fully cooperated with the Health Department's procedures, including halting service of implicated oysters when notified of the illnesses.
Margaret Zylstra, Epidemiology Manager at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department said,
"Oysters should be cooked thoroughly. Any oyster not thoroughly cooked poses the risk of foodborne illness."
Bacterial and viral pathogens can be carried in oysters, including Vibrio, Hepatitis A and Norovirus. Even in healthy individuals, these pathogens cause illness. These illnesses can be severe, particularly in the elderly or in persons with weakened immune systems. In addition, most of these illnesses can then be spread to other individuals through person to person contact.
Fat Duck staff members worked while ill
UK celeb chef Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, The Fat Duck, has now been linked to over 400 illnesses. Moleculargastrologest Blumenthal, who looks like the love child of Alton Brown and Mats Sundin, reportedly had up to 16 food handlers working with norovirus symptoms at the restaurant. Not a great idea.
The reality of the food industry is that a sick day is a day without pay and can lead to less hours. This continues to be a problem, especially with norovirus as ill food handlers are often linked to large-scale outbreaks.
Below is a food safety infosheet dedicated to the Fat Duck outrbreak. You can download the food safety infosheet here.
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Poop in prison
I can’t imagine prison is the ideal place to get sick, what with the lack of privacy when it comes to toilet facilities. I’ve experienced the wrath of norovirus, and it involves sitting on a toilet with your head in a garbage can for several hours. I consider myself at least fortunate to have had it happen in the privacy of my own bathroom, and not a shared dorm or prison cell.
Inmates at an Idaho prison were not so fortunate, reports The Olympian.
An outbreak of norovirus at the Idaho State Correctional Institution has prompted state officials to keep visitors and volunteers away from the facility.Central Health District officials say four inmates have confirmed cases of the highly contagious disease and at least three more cases are suspected.
In a separate story, Australian prisoners have been on a hunger strike after claiming fellow prisoners put poop in their lunch. From the WAtoday story,
The general manager of a Sunshine Coast prison has personally guaranteed the safety of prison meals after inmates went on a hunger strike amid claims their food was being laced with human faeces. Inmates were placed into lockdown after refusing to eat anything other than bread and milk following complaints about a tainted Sunday lunch served to them by other prisoners working in the facility's kitchen on February 22...
Norovirus is common in confined living spaces, like prisons or dorms, as it is easily transmitted by exposure to poop, vomit or blood. Symptoms usually persist for 48 to 72 hours, and in extreme cases can lead to hospitalization from dehydration.
The best way to prevent the spread of norovirus is through proper handwashing, especially after using the washroom. And eating off of a toilet seat likely isn’t the best way to avoid the spread of illness.
Update: Maybe it's not E. coli at all. Possibly norovirus in Durham, NC
The ABC11 report might have been a bit of speculation, Durham County Health Department says that while the outbreak is unknown, it looks like it might be norovirus.
The outbreak is still under investigation and it appears that lots of misinformation is flying around.
Here's last week's food safety infosheet on norovirus. 
Oyster capital of America, in Chattanooga, Tennessee?
WKRP in Cincinnati station manager Arthur Carlson once asked Andy and Jennifer to pose for a fundraising calendar, or something.
Arthur: This year’s theme? Surf City USA.
Jennifer: In Cincinnati, Ohio?
Similarly, I never thought of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as a beacon for raw oysters. But, the local health unit reports that three unassociated groups of people who ate oysters at The Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar (located at 1011 Riverside Dr.) became ill. A total of 19 people reported illness after eating at the restaurant between Monday, Jan. 12, and Sunday, Jan. 18, and developed symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea 12-40 hours after eating. The majority of those ill reported eating raw oysters.
Following standard protocol, the Health Department conducted an investigation to determine the cause of the illness. The establishment fully cooperated with the Health Department’s procedures. Inspection of the restaurant along with interviews with and testing of foodhandlers at The Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar did not implicate those persons or the restaurant as a source of infection.
Seventy-five percent of those tested were positive for norovirus. Confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration, the illnesses have been linked to raw shell oysters harvested off of the coast of Mississippi. Under advisement of the FDA, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is advising consumers not to eat oysters harvested from Conditionally Approved Area 2 “C” Shellfish Growing Waters in Mississippi from Jan. 5-9. These oysters may be contaminated with norovirus. …
Oysters cultivated in coastal areas close to human activities can be contaminated by human sewage, which can spread different types of viruses, including noroviruses.
Students at UC Santa Cruz have got the spews
Last year I had a pretty crappy birthday – literally. I spent a few days on the toilet, and a few hours in the hospital, after contracting what was likely Norovirus. Today santacruz.com reports that several students at University California Santa Cruz (UCSC) are suffering from the same symptoms. 58 
students and staff members are ill with flu-like symptoms, two of which have been hospitalized. One of the students, Zach Mialonis, who was ill less than 24 hours after eating at one of the campus cafeterias, said,
“I woke up around 4:30am throwing up and having horrible diarrhea. A bunch of other kids on my floor got sick too. I had a big quiz the next day that I had to miss.”
According to the report, epidemiologists believe the outbreak is linked to improper hygiene. Jessica Oltmanns, an epidemiologist with the Santa Cruz County Health Department, said,
“Our tests concluded that this was not a point source outbreak. The people affected by the virus were spread throughout campus, and in the end we couldn’t pinpoint where the outbreak occurred. This virus is most often spread by fecal mater and vomitus. It was not food poisoning.”
This isn’t the first outbreak of Norovirus on a campus. Last October Norovirus outbreaks affected Georgetown, USC and UVM; in November, the University of Wisconsin. Norovirus is common in confined living spaces, like dorms and cruise ships, as it is easily transmitted by exposure to poop, vomit or blood. Symptoms usually persist for 48 to 72 hours, and in extreme cases can lead to hospitalization from dehydration.
The best way to prevent the spread of Norovirus is through proper handwashing, especially after using the washroom. If your roommate is sick, make sure the vomit is properly cleaned up.
Text messages reduce the spread of norovirus at Hope College
A text message proved effective in alerting thousands of students about last month's norovirus outbreak at Hope College.
Hope College officials informed the Health Department they had a database that contained all of the students email and text messaging addresses. 3600 students were notified at once.
Students were asked via text message to reply to an email detailing their symptoms and how long they were ill.
The Health Department says in the end about 540 students responded. Officials say the information was crucial for determining a plan of action and slowing the spread of the virus.
Norovirus strikes Wisconsin residence, cruise ship ... me?
I don’t know what I have (right, exactly as shown), but can sympathize with the people quoted below.
University of Wisconsin freshman Ibrahim Balkhy contracted norovirus Sunday morning, saying,
“There was lots of puking and diarrhea — it was hell. All I have eaten are saltines.”
Between 20 and 30 residents of Sellery 6A, one of UW’s largest residence halls, have been fighting the virus since Thursday.
Craig Roberts, an epidemiologist for University Health Services, said the norovirus spreads through stool-to-mouth contact. It enters through the mouth and is passed via the stool or vomit of an infected person.
So don’t eat poop.
Meanwhile, 260 passengers and 17 crew members on board the Holland America Line M.S. Zuiderdam, have come down with norovirus
Brampton, Ontario, resident Ken Ould, 78, said that five days into his transatlantic cruise, the projectile vomiting and diarrhea started.
By the time he and the other 1,819 passengers and 794 crew disembarked in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, he had missed three ports of call, and spent five days confined to his cabin with his wife Joyce.
Now, if you'll excuse me ...
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Hope College in Michigan closed in light of Norovirous outbreak
Ottawa County Health Department officials closed Hope College on Friday after a four-day Norovirous outbreak that has left more than 400 staff and students sick.
“Earlier Sunday, the college said the number of reported cases of the flu-like illness causing vomiting and diarrhea for 24 to 48 hours climbed to 180, but many students felt those numbers self-reported to the health department are low.”
A Facebook page for the campus community called "Hope College: The Great Plague of 2008," was created by a freshman student to find out how many people have been affected by the sickness. About a third of the campus community registered at the site, 14% of who said they are sick or had been.
Health officials strongly urged students to remain on campus, but not to congregate, to help stop the spread of infection. However many students chose to leave campus once the closure was announced. At the earliest, campus is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday. During the closure, a campus cleaning crew will be sanitizing common surfaces.
Norovirous is highly contagious virus that is the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the United States.
No specific treatment is available for Norovirus. In most healthy people, the illness usually is self-limiting and resolves in a few days.
The CDC recommends frequent handwashing, especially after using the bathroom or before preparing food. Contaminated surfaces and materials should be thoroughly disinfected. Infected individual should not prepare food while they have symptoms and for 3 days after they recover from their illness.
Georgetown, USC, now Vermont; students are barfing everywhere; no answer from Organic To Go
Susan Schoenfeld, the Vermont Health Department’s deputy epidemiologist, said state and UVM health officials were looking into the possibility that some of the students sickened by the virus got sick shortly after eating a meal at the University Marche, a dining center inside the school’s Living & Learning Center.
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“Several of the students who had just eaten a meal at the dining hall became ill,” she said. “We’ve told the university we can’t rule out the possibility that food was related to the outbreak, in addition to person-to-person transmission.”
To date, about 60 students have reported becoming sick with gastroenteritis symptoms over the past few days, but the outbreak now appears to be in decline. Only four new cases of the illness were reported Thursday, according to a UVM memo to the campus community.
The memo also discussed the possible connection of the dining hall to the outbreak and said there was no way to confirm if food in the eatery caused anyone to become sick. The memo said it was possible someone who was sick possibly contaminated otherwise high-quality food.”
High quality? OK, so I’m sure the providers of food to UVM students are concerned about the things that make people barf, and wouldn’t be taken in by some trendy, local, natural thing, at least without asking basic questions about microbial food safety such as irrigation water quality, soil amendments and employee handwashing.
But I asked the same questions of Organic To Go and have heard nothing.
Sick bartender, bad ice led to barfing at Pennsylvania wedding
Norovirus sickened more than 70 people who attended a wedding reception in Washington County, PA, this month.
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Investigators from the state Department of Agriculture found that the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Company, which hosted the reception at its fire hall, allowed an ill bartender to handle drinks and ice and used an unsanitary ice machine during the event.
Wedding guest Kim McCrory of Cranberry called the state Department of Health after she learned that she wasn't the only guest experiencing diarrhea and vomiting in the days after the event.
"I have never been so sick; it was awful," McCrory said. "We weren't sure if it was food poisoning or something else. But when I heard that so many people who were at the wedding got sick, I knew I should report it."
The bartender admitted having flu-like symptoms and should have been restricted from handling foods, ice and beverages.
What do you do if someone pukes at your restaurant or event?
Clean it up. That's the easy answer.
Exactly how is another question. After Amy's story of one of her students yacking in class, we started tossing around that question and using norovirus outbreaks at Georgetown and USC as hooks. Mayra and I decided to build a food safety infosheet around it. After reviewing available guidelines from regulators and peer-reviewed research publications, we came up with some steps for cleaning up vomit. 
We based our recommedations on a norovirus-induced vomit (because aerosolized spread of virus particles is likely).
If you are looking for a cool paper on vomit, check out: Evidence for airborne transmission of Norwalk-like virus (NLV) in a hotel restaurant (Epidemiology and Infection, 2000. 124:481-487), which discusses the spread of post-vomit norovirus (abstract is here).
A pdf of the vomit cleanup food safety infosheet can be found here.
Organic To Go gone from Georgetown
The Hoya reports that Georgetown University has ended its relationship with Organic To Go as the source of a norovirus outbreak that sickened at least 212 and was linked to Leo O’Donovan Hall continues to be investigated.
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University spokesperson Julie Bataille said,
“When we reopened [O’Donovan Hall], we proactively agreed with the Department of Health to do so preparing our own Grab ‘n’ Go items as there was enough reason to suspect a potential link between those items and the virus on campus.”
The Hoya says that Organic To Go was introduced as an environmentally friendly choice and as part of the larger renovations to improve food options at the dining hall this fall.
Stephanie Sampiere, vice president of corporate communications at Organic To Go, said the company is no longer serving Georgetown, but maintained that Organic To Go could not have been the cause of the norovirus outbreak.
“All Organic To Go food is prepared in a central commissary kitchen, and the company served thousands of customers’ food prepared from the commissary kitchen that day and received absolutely no concern in regards to Organic To Go’s food.”
That’s the same Stephanie Sampiere who was quick off the mark when I published an entry about a possible link between norovirus outbreaks at Georgetown and the University of Southern California earlier this month, e-mailing me to remove the blog post.
I told her to post a comment, she persisted, so I added a line about how Organic To Go had stopped serving USC in Aug. 2008.
And I sent Stephanie another message:
“I added a note. But you've piqued my interest and I can't find anything on your website.
So I'd like some information on the microbial standards for all fresh fruits and vegetables used by Organic-to-Go, where grab-and-go food is prepared and the training requirements for those assembling and serving food.
thanks
dp”
Stephanie wrote that she would try and track down that information.
I’m still waiting.
Food service is under tremendous pressure to go local, organic and sustainable, whatever those words mean. But the basics are the same: any supplier needs to substantively prove they are providing microbiologically safe product.
Is there a link between norovirus at Georgetown and USC?
As the number of norovirus illnesses reached 330 at the University of Southern California and 212 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the Georgetown Voice reports both schools serve meals prepared by the Organic-to-Go food distributor, although Georgetown officials do not believe there is a connection. (Note: a PR person from Organic-to-Go says USC stopped serving what she calls grab-and-go food from Organic-to-Go in Aug. 2008 -- dp)
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Georgetown officials were also cited as saying today that:
* Georgetown cleaning crews and temporary contract crews have been working through the weekend to keep public areas clean. Thousands of wipes and sixty hand sanitizer stations have been placed around campus.
* DC Department of Public Health is conducting an epidemiological study to determine the cause of the outbreak. The results of the study should be released in the next few days. Food samples from Leo’s have been tested. The cause of the outbreak is still unknown, but the study should provide some insight.
* The University does not know when Leo’s employees will stop serving all food to students, but there are no plans to continue this practice indefinitely.
At USC, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed norovirus was the source of the USC outbreak. Officials said restrooms and common areas of residence halls have been thoroughly cleaned in response to the outbreak and USC officials have provided sanitation measures to university-owned housing and fraternity and sorority row.
Here’s an old infosheet on norovirus, in Spanish.
Norovirus not just for Georgetown
Norovirus continues to work its porcelain magic.
After striking 175 Georgetown students – there was vomiting in the emergency waiting rooms and residence hallways, but at least they got Powerade – something that sure sounded like norovirus sickened 75 University of Southern California students.
The campus community was alerted early Saturday with a blast of e-mail and cell phone text messages and officials stressed that ill students should not attend Saturday evening's football game between the USC Trojans and Oregon.
Several students and staff at a private school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, got sick during lunch on Friday and the health department suspects watermelon in a fruit salad based on what the individuals ate. The health department took samples, and will test them for foodborne illnesses.
And the Washoe District Health Department in Nevada is reminding people to use "effective handwashing procedures" following a rise of gastrointestinal illnesses.
Here's another norovirus infosheet from the past.
Norovirus at Norwegian hotel hospitalizes 30, sickens dozens
Norway's Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) says norovirus – originating in staff or cold food served at a hotel buffet or both -- swept through the Clarion Hotel Gardermoen, near Oslo's main airport, Saturday afternoon and evening.
The victims included members of a national diabetes foundation attending a conference and what was supposed to be the foundation's 60th anniversary party.
Instead, most of them wound up vomiting and suffering from acute diarrhea, especially serious ailments for diabetics. More than 30 were taken to hospital, and scores of other visitors at the hotel also fell ill, including hotel staff and members of a band hired in to play at the foundation's party.
Here’s another norovirus infosheet from the past with some tips. The originals can be found at foodsafetyinfosheets.ksu.edu
175 sick with norovirus at Georgetown - but they're getting Powerade
Todd A. Olson
, vice president for student affairs at Georgetown University issued a statement this afternoon identifying norovirus as the cause of the recent gastrointestinal illnesses affecting Georgetown students and outlining a bunch of preventative measures. It was boring, and of course, didn’t say sorry for all the barfing.
However, the reporters at the Georgetown Voice offered a more entertaining presentation of the same information:
“Georgetown just sent out a message saying that the food poisoning is caused by the Norovirus, a contagious virus spread through oral and fecal contact. Georgetown is going to start a big cleaning regimen:
“Immediately, student residence halls are being cleaned with a specific focus on common areas and high contact surfaces such as bathrooms, doorknobs, and handrails. Common gathering areas including Yates Field House, McDonough Arena, the Leavey Center will also be cleaned, as well as bathrooms and high contact surfaces in academic and administrative buildings.
“It’s also spread by hand-to-hand contact. In June, a health inspection found that Leo’s had inadequate handwashing facilities for employees. According to the report, that problem was resolved. Georgetown says it’s going to continue normal operation, with a focus on cleaning. The message also encourages everyone to frequently wash their hands.
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UPDATES: Todd Olson says the new number is 175 students. Only 3 in emergency room, 2 in student health center.
Leo’s is open tonight.
Any student who has missed class or assignment from being sick will be excused. Get in touch with your dean.
Georgetown’s setting up a call center for parents. 1-800-208-5167. I guess it’s for calling to complain that your student is sick or could’ve been. For families with sick students: 202-444-3895
Dr. Timpone is up saying everyone should wash their hands. Norovirus causes all kinds of miserable nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea.
People whose roommates have the virus and got splashed with vomit can easily get sick. Clean up! Use bleach.
Degioia’s here! Timpone says don’t be upset if you get sick, the disease will pass in a few days. Just stay hydrated.
I’m kind of surprised DeGioia’s here, considering how awful students were treated last night at that Grill.
Question and answer time! Olson says he’s not familiar with the possible Leo’s handwashing connection. No word on whether you get to skip midterms, talk to your dean.
Someone from Solidarity is asking about employees getting sick, good point. Todd says he doesn’t think any workers got sick.
Todd says we’re getting lot of Powerade and hand sanitizers!
Students who have vomit damage in their room should call work management at 202-687-3432. I guess they’ll help now, unlike yesterday.
People who have already been infected won’t catch it again.
Telling people to wash their hands is standard. Georgetown students, are there adequate supplies in the bathrooms – soap, water and paper towels – and were there adequate supplies before the outbreak?
Ever notice someone sick and working at Leo’s? That’s how norovirus often spreads, especially through a bunch of foods from one spot.
There are some tips on the infosheet below. Norovirus outbreaks like this are far too common.
Don't eat poop - and if it's on oysters at least cook it
Xinhua News Agency reports,
“A total of 141 people in Macao were food-poisoned after eating polluted raw oysters in local restaurants, the Special Administration Region's health authorities announced on Monday.
“The food-poisoning outbreak was firstly reported on Aug. 28 when a number of people fell sick after eating raw oysters served in a buffet restaurant in the Venetian Macao Resort, and more cases were later reported in restaurants in the Sands Hotel, Golden Dragon Hotel and the Macao Tower, according to the SAR's Disease Control and Prevention Center of the Macao Health Bureau ( SSM).
“The SSM said in its latest press release that eight new cases were reported on Monday, the victims of which dined in the four restaurants mentioned above and ate raw oysters, but it also confirmed that those victims have fully recovered from the illness.
“The problem oysters served in the four restaurants came from the same supplier in Hong Kong, according to the SSM, which has ordered the four eateries to stop providing raw oysters at their buffets.
“The food-poisoning was caused by Norwalk virus that was communicable through food, vomit, and excreta among human beings, said the SSM, adding that the victims comprised locals as well as tourists from Hong Kong and elsewhere.”
A break from listeria: Don't clean up barf and then head straight into the kitchen
This week's food safety infosheet focuses on a norovirus outbreak linked to a North Carolina BBQ restaurant in Lexington, NC. Health authorities have been reported as saying that they believe a food handler, who was not displaying symptoms of a norovirus infection, brought the virus into the kitchen after caring for a family member who was ill. 
Message is: If you are looking after someone who has diarrhea or has been vomiting, it's really important to not introduce the pathogen into a food preparation or handling setting. Wash your hands and make sure there aren't any virus aerosols on your clothes (that happens when you vomit with noro; maybe change them before you head into the kitchen).
You can download the infosheet here.
Please, wash your hands first
We arrived early morning, started setting up the tent and unloading the truck when I popped open a bag of mini rice cakes. The three boys I was camping with (shown at the left) quickly joined to share the treat. I starred wide-eyed when I saw their dirty hands digging into the food. No offense to the guys but, I knew there wasn’t soap in the bathroom of the campsite, which doesn’t really matter, because they probably went in the woods anyways. In conclusion, there was most likely no hand washing before digging in.
I didn’t want to be a food safety geek, and I wasn’t going to start acting like all of their moms, so I sucked it up, looked the other way, and kept eating.
Luckily we all survived the trip safely.
Today a news story was published about 20 people getting sick at a wedding reception in Minnesota after eating from a bowl of chips. The chips were contaminated with norovirus, possibly spread through poop.
Ok next time, I promised myself, I will be that geeky mom and order everyone around to wash their hands before sticking them into that bowl of chips.
Norovirus sickens 31 customers and 10 employees at P.F. Chang's in Oregon
The P.F. Chang's was still closed Thursday because of the illnesses.After health department workers did some testing inside, they found out it was an outbreak of norovirus. …
Customers were confused at first as to where they had picked up the illness.
Craig and Nicole Baumer remember the wide array of dishes they tried with their friends on Saturday at P.F. Chang's. They felt fine until 24 hours later.
"Sunday night, I woke up in the middle of the night and just felt horrible," Craig Baumer said.
Be wild - and safe
About 30 people came down with symptoms consistent with the norovirus infection at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and High Sierra camps in the area, said Shane Sims, a specialist in the safety office at Yosemite National Park…
The hiker camps are particularly vulnerable to the spread of norovirus illness, because people enjoying the outdoors aren't always careful about hygiene, Sims said.
So I decided to put together a few tips on how to keep your hygienic standards from home in the wild - especially if you have children or grandparents around.
1 - Pack one of those hand sanitizer bottles and use it as often as you can – before and after handling food, after bathroom breaks – you know it, whenever you would normally wash your hands with soap.
2 – While you’re at it, take a pack of wipes or moist towels (can probably be found at the baby section) and use it to clean your body (focus on face, underarms, groin, buttocks, and feet). You will not only kill bacteria that could make you sick, you will smell good and feel much better too.
3 – Take a small bottle of isopropyl alcohol and some cotton balls. Soak a cotton ball in alcohol and use it to rub your feet. This eliminates dangerous bacteria that could be forming around blisters or wounds. Change to clean socks.
4 – Quick bathroom tips: when going number one go directly into running water if possible or far away from the camp if not. When going number two go far away from the camp, and bury your poop like cats do. (Remember to use your hand sanitizer afterwards)
5 – Do not handle food if you have open sores on your hands, if you have diarrhea, or if you’re feeling sick in general. This will prevent a spread of infection.
6 – If you want to be sure about the water you’re drinking, carry with you a water filter or purification tablets like Iodine. Regular unscented liquid chlorine bleach also works. Follow the instructions on the label. Most water sources are contaminated in North America and may contain guardia or cryptosporidium therefore are not safe to drink.
7 – Drink lots of fluids, rest plenty, and keep warm.
Follow these tips and reduce your chances of getting norovirus like the hikers above, or any other sickness that could ruin a fun trip. Enjoy the wild!
Illness in Texas jail affects 543 inmates
At one point at least 543 prisoners were experiencing signs of illness. Jail staff suspected that the illness may have been caused by an earlier meal, and officials quarantined numerous food items. Bologna sandwiches and food served with them were being examined for contamination.
Test results from the sampled food have not yet been released.
Possible suspects could be norovirus, Salmonella or E. coli, among others. In an outbreak such as the one in the Galveston County Jail, the close proximity of the prisoners to one another can increase the severity of an outbreak.
Hand sanitizers and cleaning mean fewer kids home sick from school
"A multifactorial intervention including hand sanitizer and surface disinfection reduced absenteeism caused by gastrointestinal illness in elementary school students. Norovirus was found less often on classroom surfaces in the intervention group. Schools should consider adopting these practices to reduce days lost to common illnesses."
Wonder if it would work for restaurants.
Science fiction conference grounded -- by barf
Officials with Dane County and the Madison Public Health Department think some attendees might have been exposed to the illness before the convention since they developed symptoms so soon after arriving. The sick ones may have then infected others through personal contact and shared access to food.
Neil Young, Blu-Ray and norovirus
Yesterday, San Francisco public health officials warned of an outbreak of norovirus that has sickened several people who were attending or working at conferences at the Moscone Center between April 30 and May 8, 2008.As Caroline McCarthy noted in her story,
"To clarify, this is a virus that makes you barf and gives you diarrhea. It's not the kind of virus that sends Viagra-pitching e-mails to all your friends or treats you to a Rick Astley sing-along every time you turn on your computer."
Further information on noroviruses can be found at the Department of Public Health Web site at http://sfcdcp.org/norovirus.cfm.
Mexican restaurant in Ohio closes after 23 sickened with norovirus
Mark McDonnell, with the Greene County Health Department, said,"We strongly suspect it's the Norwalk virus simply because of the time frame. People reported getting sick within 24 hours, and it only lasts 24 to 48 hours. … We had a couple of employees ill last week, and they might have come back on a little too early and were still shedding the virus."
Health officials ordered workers to sanitize the restaurant before it reopened at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon. Inspectors said the restaurant meets all its requirements and is now safe for customers.
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All natural norovirus at Chipotle in Ohio
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One report cited Kent health officials as saying that 432 people had reported norovirus symptoms as of Monday afternoon.Victims began showing up at local hospitals Thursday evening and the restaurant closed Friday.
Many of those who got ill were Kent State University students. The restaurant is directly across from the campus, and students who took part in a recent American Red Cross blood drive received a coupon for free food at Chipotle.
Kent Health Commissioner John Ferlito said Saturday the health department and the Denver-based restaurant chain agreed to switch employees out of concern that the outbreak might be caused by a sick employee. Several of the restaurant's employees had been ill, but they also had eaten the restaurant's food.
Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said in a statement Saturday,
"Local health department officials have found no violations in inspections of our Kent State restaurant conducted after this incident was first reported, and again in an inspection this morning. We have reopened our restaurant with their full support. We have taken preventative steps that meet or exceed health department requirements, and will continue to assist them in their investigation."
If someone wants to check out Kent State University and Chipotle on Facebook, I bet there's lots of stories to hear.
Antibiotics? How about norovirus?
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Roy Costa, guest barfblogger: The "Great Escapes Resort" can't escape scrutiny after viral outbreak
focus of a large norovirus outbreak. Norovirus is transmitted from infected human carriers to food, water, and environmental surfaces. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognize noroviruses (and related viral strains) as the leading cause of foodborne illness in the US. The gastrointestinal illness is highly communicable and easily spread by hand to hand contact and even through the air. Outbreaks occur in resorts and other facilities when ill persons contaminate the environment, food and water through vomit and feces. Rapid and effective measures well-known to the public health community are needed to stop transmission. Many of these measures are developed by the US Public Health Service. Cruise lines have experienced many norovirus outbreaks and therefor there is much known about the pathogen and how to address it.Untimely Responses to the Problem
According to the local health department a case of norovirus at the Great Escapes is defined as a person with norovirus symptoms at the resort on or after March 7, 2008. The health department therefore belives the date of March 7 was the beginning of the outbreak, but did not for some unexplained reason begin an investigation for ten days. It is not known to this writer when the operator of the facility was first aware of that employees and patrons were becoming ill. We are also unaware of how or when the health department was officially notified of the problem. The official coordinated response to this outbreak began on March 17, a full 10 days after the outbreak apparently began. By March 21, there were already 200 cases. The number of reported cases eventually reached at least 435 as news of the incident spread.
Rapid tests using sophisticated molecular testing platforms are available to provide confirming results of norovirus infection in 24 hours, yet investigators over 1 week into the investigation still didn't have a confirming diagnosis from the state lab. The slow state lab results were an unnecessary delay, as approved private labs are available.
Early recognition of this problem is critical. Once it is known that norovirus is in the environment, investigators can implement timely and appropriate sanitation and safety precautions to combat transmission. One example of appropriate response was the closing of the food service. But this only occured after numerous employees of the kitchen reported symptoms of norovirus. The pools, food and lodging facilities are undoubtedly contaminated. Delay in the the implementation of this and other preventive measures at this public, regulated facility likely increased the potential for the exposure of large numbers of unsuspecting people to the pathogen over several days. The licensed operator's delay in recognizing and reporting a large number of ill patrons and staff to authorities, the response of the authorities once notified, and the timeliness and effectiveness of prevention measures taken are critical questions.
Lawsuit
Four members of a family sickened by the resort have filed a lawsuit. Key issues that must be scrutinized are the delay between the start of the outbreak and notification of the health authorities, the large number of food service staff ill and whether they worked while ill, the basis for the decision to close the kitchen, and the basis for management's decision to allow the rest of the facility to remain open..
Unanswered Questions
A detailed analysis of the cases and their relationships to the food service or other environmental exposures will be key to determining the causes of this large and serious outbreak and whether the operator responded in an effective and timely manner to protect both it's employees and guests.
Could the large number of cases of illness been reduced if more timely and effective prevention measures were implemented at Great Escapes?
To read more, select the links below.
Health Department official statement Norovirus at Great Escapes Water Park
1st article from the Post Star. March 21st, 200 cases reported
2nd article from the Post Star, March 16th, 435 cases reported
Channel 6 report. Lawsuits filed.
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Mr. Costa is a professor at the Walt Disney World Center for Hospitality and the Culinary Arts at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida and is the founder and owner of the consulting firm Environ Health Associates, Inc. Mr. Costa is a registered professional sanitarian with 30 years of environmental heath practice in the academic, government and private sectors.For our manual on Norovirus Contamination and Control send an email to rcosta1@cfl.rr.com
Irony strikes: illness fells 65 at medical meeting
Many of the victims came forward Friday, the day after attending the meeting Thursday at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md.Staff members of the Prince George's County health department interviewed resort workers and inspected the center to determine what caused the illness. A private company has already started cleaning.
Norovirus (?) strikes Socorro, New Mexico
Two years ago I experienced my first U.S.-style spring break with Amy and we went on the great Tex-Mex road trip, heading south through Oklahoma and then west to Albuquerque.
We stayed for an hour; didn't like it. So we headed south, stopping for the night in Socorro, NM. We spent the next morning walking around the campus of New Mexico Tech, raising suspicions by wandering to close to classified areas, and checking out the PhD hair salon. Then it was off to a bizarre encounter in Truth or Consequences, NM, and eventually to Tuscon.But back to Socorro. On March 6, 2008, the Student Health Center issued a statement saying the
New Mexico Tech campus has identified an outbreak of an intestinal disorder (gastroenteritis). … We are working with the N.M. Department of Public Health to identify the specific type of pathogen and how to treat it. … Hand-washing and hand sanitizers are effective methods to reduce the spread of pathogens Surface sanitizing with chlorine based-cleaners is recommended in areas where a virus may be present on surfaces. Residential Life has already begun a marketing campaign to encourage hand- washing. Facilities Management and Residential Life staff also are using different cleaning products to decrease the spread of the suspected virus.
However, a student informs barfblog.com that students began blogging about norovirus striking the campus before March 2, 2008.
On March 3, 2008, another student blogs that they were questioned about what they had eaten at Chartwells, but doesn't identify who questioned them. On March 4, 2008, a student posts on their blog that they were questioned by the N.M. Health Department about their diet for the previous five days. Another student reports on March 6, 2008, after the warning was issued by the Student Health Center, that,
"It's a little late for this warning. My friends and I were all sick at different points over the last two weeks."
Our correspondent reports,
"I was around for "Death Meal 82" and "Death Meal 85" (no one actually died) living in town but I suspect a lot of people have either forgotten those events or are hoping to avoid bad publicity for the school/town. Death Meal 85 was eventually identified as a bucket full of raw chicken that was subsequently used to carry ice to the ice machine."
Local media has shown almost no interest in the outbreak.
Wrestling and norovirus
Dr. Chill Yee, a sports medicine fellow with the Montana Family Medicine Residency in Billings, worries about norovirus and wrestling."You can imagine with such a high-contact sport how easily things are spread. … This is unique because we have such high contact. Another event here, say rodeo or arena football, you're not going to have that contact even though it's a dense crowd."
The Billings Gazette reports that Yee was among medical professionals charged with screening more than 700 athletes in the state wrestling tournament at MetraPark Arena this weekend for communicable diseases.
Don Gleason, the tournament's medical director, said mats are washed between matches with a disinfectant, adding,
"We have people assigned to do that. The clean mats will keep the chance of spreading (anything) to a minimum."Fewer cruise ship norovirus outbreaks in 2007
Last year, there were 16 confirmed outbreaks of norovirus on ships monitored by the CDC, down from 29 outbreaks the year before.
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Federal ship regulators say cruise lines have become the model for fighting outbreaks of norovirus, which spreads easily and causes flu-like symptoms for 48 to 72 hours.Capt. Jaret Ames, head of the vessel sanitation program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, said,
"They're much better at it today than they were in 2002."
Last year, 12.6 million people took a cruise worldwide. The cruise Web site cruisejunkie.com calculates that at least 4,159 passengers fell ill with norovirus.
Steps to avoid norovirus on a cruise:
Don't touch door handles, handrails or other communal surfaces and then touch your mouth or nose. Wash your hands often.
Make use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially in food-service areas.
Before booking a cruise, compare health inspection reports of vessels and cruise lines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site — http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/CruisingTips/cruisingtips.htm — provides inspection scores. Any score below 85 is considered unsatisfactory.
Diners contract norovirus at California hotel
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The Examiner reports that health officials had pinpointed either the salmon or chicken, which was served as the evening’s main courses, and that nobody who chose the vegetarian entrée fell sick. Contaminated workers could have been the source.
Inspectors found evidence that the Sofitel’s staff was re-using dirty towels to wipe down tables, food being kept too hot or too cold and a dishwasher who was touching clean dishes directly after touching dirty dishes. Hotel management immediately corrected the violations.
Norovirus isn't good for business
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The chamber was holding its annual dinner and awards recognition banquet, according to the group’s Web site. Sofitel spokeswoman Janice Maragakis was cited as saying none of the hotel’s other guests or employees came down ill, but that General Manager Didier de La Ferrier belongs to the chamber and also came down ill. He thought it was simply the flu until the first calls came in.
The story notes that the Hotel Sofitel has no prior violations or health complaints on record.
Villanova students have upset stomachs, basketball team gets upset
Officials also say that they don't think a common food vehicle is involved as ill students live both on campus and off. Maybe noro was one of the reasons for the No. 18 team's loss at home to Notre Dame yesterday: no fan support because everybody was on the toilet?
Preventative handwashing limits pissed off passengers
The passengers, including former Formula 1 motor-racing champion Sir Jackie Stewart, dubbed the Canary Islands trip the "cruise from hell" after complaining about poor room service, blocked toilets, a lack of Christmas decorations, cold food and extra charges for tea and coffee. They complained hygiene standards were "appalling" and that the outbreak was connected to poor food handling.
Passengers said it was only after the virus struck that Cunard provided alcohol-based hand gel to combat its spread – by which time it was too late.
Jean Trainor, 49, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said,
"No hygiene rules were implemented until people fell ill. If they had been, maybe this could have been avoided. There has also been problems with lavatories not flushing. Everyone I've spoken to is pissed off, including the crew because they're having to put up with all the guests moaning. I resent having paid £7,500 to be on this cruise. I'll never sail on the Queen Vic again."
Ron Wade, 71, from South Lanarkshire, said,"I was very surprised that nobody was being told that they must wash their hands in antiseptic lotion as a matter of course. Since people became ill, we have all been advised not to use the public loos to stop the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, some of the loos in our cabins have been blocked."
The Evening Standard says that when Cunard's £300million MS Queen Victoria luxury liner was officially launched by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall in Southampton three weeks ago, the bottle of champagne failed to smash against the bow, prompting superstitious speculation that the ship was cursed.
Maybe. Or maybe cruise ships and their staff need to go out of their way to encourage handwashing and hygiene. And proper handwashing requires access to proper tools; before the outbreak happens.
Raw oysters cause seven in Tennessee to barf
Consumers who ate raw oysters on or after Dec. 3 and experienced these symptoms are encouraged to contact their health care providers and local health departments. Consumers concerned about the origin of oysters they have recently purchased should contact the place of purchase to determine if the oysters were harvested from the identified area during the Dec. 3-21 period.FDA has received reports of norovirus infection in seven individuals who ate raw oysters on Dec. 13 at a restaurant in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Tennessee Department of Health's test results from two of the ill patients were positive for norovirus. FDA confirmed the presence of norovirus in shell oysters harvested from the West Karako Bay section of Growing Area 3 and were served at the restaurant. Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals closed the affected growing area on Dec. 21. FDA is working with the states involved to determine if any additional actions may be necessary to ensure public health protection.
The original shipper of the oysters is Prestige Oyster Company of Theriot, La. The company shipped the oysters to Bon Secour Fisheries in Bon Secour, Ala. Bon Secour Fisheries, in turn, shipped the oysters to the restaurant in Chattanooga. Considering the shelf-life of the product, it is possible that suspect oysters from the designated area are still available in other retail and food service settings.
FDA advises that it's always best to cook seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of foodborne illness. Consumers can continue to enjoy oysters in many cooked preparations by following this advice:
At Restaurants and other Foodservice Establishments:
0. Order oysters fully cooked.
In the Shell:
• Purchase oysters with the shells closed. Throw away any oysters with shells already opened.
To prepare oysters for eating, choose one of the following methods:
• Boil oysters until the shells open. Once open, boil for an additional 3-5 minutes.
• Steamer - add oysters to water that are already steaming and cook live oysters until the shells open; once open steam for another 4-9 minutes.
• Use smaller pots to boil or steam oysters. Using larger pots, or cooking too many oysters at one time, may cause uneven heat distribution, which may cause the oysters in the middle to not get fully cooked.
• Discard any oysters that do not open during cooking.
Shucked Oysters:
To prepare oysters for eating, choose one of the following methods:
• Boil or simmer shucked oysters for at least 3 minutes or until the edges curl.
• Fry at 375 degrees for at least 3 minutes.
• Broil 3 inches from heat for 3 minutes.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
For further information contact:
FDA Food Safety Hotline: 1-888-SAFEFOOD_FDA website: www.cfsan.fda.gov
Ben's barf for barfblog
Here's what's been happening to me:
- Trips to the bathroom for vomiting = 2
- Trips to the bathroom for diarrhea = 6
- Stomach cramps = lots
Every time I drink something (which I have limited to water) I get some wicked cramps.
Haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday.I really was hoping to get a picture to make the blog authentic, but a camera was the last thing I was thinking of. I promised Doug I'd snap a pic of my next trip to the bathroom.
Ironically this week's infosheet is all about norovirus, you can find it here.
BalletLORENT cancelled because of barf
The Blackpool Gazette in the U.K. reports that a second Blackpool hotel, the Metropole, is at the centre of a suspected norovirus outbreak.The Newcastle-based balletLORENT performed their opening night on Friday, but Saturday's performance was called off 15 minutes after the curtain was due to go up.
Grand Theatre house manager Stephen Williams took to the stage to break the bad news to the audience, stating,
"Unfortunately due to a virulent outbreak of food poisoning the company is unable to perform. They are unable to perform how they wish to perform and how you would like to see them perform."
The audience was offered a full refund or credit note to use for future productions.
If you're sick, stay at home
"In this outbreak, vomiting by a line cook at the work station might have contributed to transmission … Because of the open physical layout of the restaurant, no barrier impeded airborne spread of the virus from the kitchen to the main dining area."Or so concludes the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in its write-up of a Jan. 2006 norovirus outbreak in Michigan (it was a Carrabba's Italian Grill in Lansing, Mich.) in which "at least 364 restaurant patrons became ill with gastroenteritis after dining at a restaurant where employees had reported to work while ill."
At the time of the outbreak, a food service employee in Lansing wrote that, "What happened at Carrabba's could occur at any of our local eateries. Not because their kitchens are not clean, not because they don't follow all of the safety standards, but because sick employees report to work. There is an internal peer pressure to report to work even when you are ill, not to mention that a day without pay can be crucial for some families."
As I wrote in Feb. 2006,
The industry spokesthingies may say that sick employees should not work, but the reality is, no work, no pay. So, for the food industry, tell your sick employees to stay at home, and perhaps even provide incentives, like allowing for a couple of sick days. The cost of a few workers abusing the system pales in comparison to the lawsuits and lost business.
Following the outbreak, the Barry-Eaton District Health Department (where Lansing, MI, is located) issued four recommendations (based on previously published guidelines) for infection control and environmental decontamination after any vomiting incident in a food-service establishment (what to do after someone barfs):
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• Any exposed food or single-service articles (e.g., drinking straws, takeout containers, and paper napkins) should be discarded, and all surface areas within at least a 25-foot radius of the vomiting site should be disinfected with a bleach solution;• ill employees should be excluded from work for at least 72 hours after symptoms subside, and employees returning after a gastrointestinal illness should be restricted from handling kitchenware or ready-to-eat food for an additional 72 hours;
• because thorough disinfection might be necessary, partial or complete closure of the food establishment should be considered after a vomiting incident
• restrooms used during or after a vomiting incident should be closed immediately until they are disinfected properly with bleach solution.
You vomit on the bus, you pay; norovirus is the best excuse
The policy will be enforced by "mystery riders," who could be on board at any time.
The Vern Express runs round the clock between the university's Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses. University officials say when someone gets sick, the driver has to stop the bus, unload the passengers and arrange rides home.
The policy follows an increase in the number of incidents and complaints from students about delays. School officials say it applies only to students who are drunk -- not those who are actually sick.
The were several of those in Manhattan last night, as a late game meant the "official" tailgating started at 3 pm, and didn't wrap up until 12:30 a.m., with a 47-20 Kansas State victory over Colorado, and allowing K-State to sneak back into the college football rankings at #25 in the AP poll (shout-out to my Canadian Food Inspection Agency fans).
One of our golf friends tried the norovirus excuse on the first fairway after a night of excess several years ago in Newport News, Virginia.
It didn't work.
Australia gears up for gastro epidemic to sweep nation
While Doug sits patiently on a plane bound for Australia, the Age reports today that a virulent strain of gastroenteritis is expected to infect tens of thousands of Australians in the coming months.Viral experts are cited as saying the outbreak of highly infectious norovirus will cause a second wave of sick leave on the back of the current influenza epidemic.
This year's strain, which has already spread through Europe, is more contagious than last year's gastro bug, and has already been linked to outbreaks and visitor bans at some hospitals in Queensland, Adelaide and NSW.
Virologist Peter White, from the University of NSW, is quoted as saying, "We are seeing a wave of multiple outbreaks that is already spreading across Australia."
The virus is expected to hit hardest in crowded environments like childcare centres, nursing homes and hospitals, Dr White was further cited as saying.
Public health experts are said to be puzzled by the random periodic emergence of new strains which cause rapid-fire outbreaks before suddenly vanishing again.
Don Schaffner, guest barfblogger: You remember Leonard Skinner. He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner
Marler's post mentions that kids and parents at a church camp in North
Carolina ate Castleberry's chili that had been recalled nearly one month
earlier. While Marler appears to lay the blame on Castleberry's, I think
camp officials are at least partly responsible. In my experience summer
camp officials don't always make good food safety decisions.
I still remember the summer my oldest son worked at a nearby camp. He
explained all his important duties, one of which was making sure that the
refrigerator temperature logs were filled in with the "correct" temperatures
when the health inspector was due for a visit.
Another example of camp making bad decisions happened earlier this summer
when a norovirus outbreak hit a scout camp in Pensylvannia. As the
link explains, the first week the camp had "several" norovirus cases in
camp. They cleaned up and brought in the next weeks campers, and were hit
even harder, with at least 55 ill... so they decided to send all 500 campers
home!
What the story doesn't explain (as I learned from a colleague whose son was
one of the 500 sent home the second week) is that parents were not told of
the first outbreak when they dropped their kids off for the second week.
Certainly a bit of honest communication with parents about the outbreak the
first week might have made for fewer irate parents the second week.
Don Schaffner is an Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers
University. In is spare time he likes to go camping and backpacking with
the Boy Scouts.
Barf detergent, washes out noro?
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Dirty socks? Wash them with Barf
For "Extra cleaning power" and a "Fresh perfume" smell, choose Barf detergent.
This Iranian washing powder is suited for handwashing and top-loading machines only. Don't use it in front loaders.
Barf, or "???" means "snow" in Farsi.
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There are probably lots of patrons of Parker's Steakhouse in Longview, WA who are probably finding barf (or barf-covered clothing) in their laundry following a norovirus outbreak at the restaurant. The Olympian reports that at least 123 Parker's Steak House customers and two restaurant workers had become ill with noro. The investigation is reportedly focusing on an ill patron or worker who brought the virus into the restaurant. Don't eat poop, or barf.
Rockstars fall ill
***MCR falls ill after concert***
01.may.07
The Flat Hat (Virginia)
Brian Mahoney
http://www.flathatnews.com/news/933/mcr-falls-ill-after-concert
Last weekend did not end romantically for rock band My Chemical Romance.
The group was forced to cancel their Sunday night show at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania, after 16 crew and band members fell ill, according to the BJC’s Director of Public Relations Bernie Punt.
Punt told Penn State’s student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, that members from the opening band Muse also fell ill late Saturday night.
Jonathan Seiden - The Flat Hat. My Chemical Romance performs for an almost sold-out audience at William and Mary Hall April 28.
He said that both crew and band members were stricken by “severe food poisoning.”
“We had a doctor in here all day,” Punt told the Collegian Sunday. “They’re not getting any better.”
Punt also told The Flat Hat that the band was forced to postpone their May 1 show in Columbus, Ohio due to continued sickness.
According to Punt, chicken wraps served at the College Saturday had caused the illness.
The Green Leafe, located on Scotland Street, was the sole caterer of the event, and they also served chicken wraps, Glen Gormley, the owner of the restaurant, said.
Gormley also said that no one from the band has contacted the Green Leafe, and that he could not confirm if the wraps had caused the illnesses. Continue Reading...
