My 15-year-old daughter is off to camp for a month on Sunday in Ontario, an annual ritual.

And, like every other year, there are outbreaks of foodborne illness at summer camps.

More than 50 campers, mostly children, have become ill from the norovirus at La Foret Conference Center and Retreat Center in the Black Forest, (Colorado, not Germany).

Ralph Townsend, the General Manager of La Foret, blamed others, saying two different groups became ill after staying at the conference center, but that the spread of the virus could have been prevented if the facility was notified in time, adding,

“We are a leasing facility and the first group did not follow the protocol, so when we were notified late about the illnesses, we were never notified immediately, and that made the situation worse.”

Susan Wheelan, a spokeswoman for the El Paso County Health Department, said it appears all safety procedures have been followed successfully, and the source of the illness has not been determined.
 

Every time there is an outbreak of foodborne illness, some folks get together and say, here are the new rules that need to be followed so a bunch of kids don’t end up in hospital, like 27 of the 93 sickened by E. coli O157:H7 at Godstone Farm petting zoo in 2009 in the U.K. (two of those sick kids are pictured, right)

In Feb. 2010 when Godstone Farm reopened, manager Richard Oatway said,

"Lots of parents have been with us for a long time and they realize that E. coli can be present in many animals all the time.”

And lots of parents are really pissed, which is why 26 of them are have filed a lawsuit against the farm.

The Telegraph reports this morning that the investigation into the dangers posed by petting animals is expected to lead to strict new measures this week.

Farmers could have to stop opening their gates to the public amid increased regulations that could include demanding that people no longer touch the animals.

Prof George Griffin, a world expert on infectious diseases, began the investigation following an E .coli outbreak at a farm last year which led to 27 people, many of them children, requiring hospital treatment. He is due to make his recommendations this week when the report is published.

Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services, said,

"If regulations become too excessive the danger is that many farms will be unwilling to welcome visitors. The risk of catching E. coli from a visit to an open farm is extremely low, particularly if children are encouraged to wash their hands thoroughly after touching animals."

Those handwashing signs, they’re not encouraging. Do better.

Gemma Weaver, 24, of Bramley Close, has vowed to "never forgive the farm" after her three-year-old son, Alfie suffered kidney failure following a visit to Godstone Farm.
 

Benjamin Chapman
Translated by Albert Amgar
L'infosheet de cette semaine est un document d’information sur l’hygiène alimentaire qui cible ceux qui préparent les aliments. Elle est disponible sur le site : www.foodsafetyinfosheets.com
L’infosheet met l’accent sur :
- Un navire de croisière, Grand Princess, a récemment été victime d’une deuxième éclosion consécutive à norovirus affectant 57 personnes parmi les 2 468 passagers à bord.
- Pour maîtriser la propagation de norovirus, utilisez les moyens adaptés pour nettoyer les vomissures; ces moyens comprennent des gants latex, un masque à filtre et un tablier jetables.
- De nombreux désinfectants pour les mains ont une efficacité limitée à réduire norovirus sur les mains.
- Les agents pathogènes peuvent être présents sous forme d’aérosols lors du vomissement et se propager en dehors des zones visuellement affectées.
Les infosheets sont crées chaque semaine et sont affichées dans des restaurants, magasins, et fermes, et sont utilisées mondialement pour des formations. Si vous avez une demande de sujet ou des photos, contactez Ben Chapman à benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu Vous pouvez suivre les infosheets, des histoires sur l’hygiène alimentaire et barfblog sur twitter @benjaminchapman et @barfblog.

I’ve never been on a cruise. I like to think that I have a few outfits that would qualify as cruise wear but that’s about as close as I’ve been. Dani and I have discussed maybe going sometime, especially since we live within a four-hour drive of Charleston, but we’re going to try out an NC beach vacation first.  After my campylobacter experience last Fall (that I use in pretty well every talk I give), maybe a cruise would be a good place to generate some more material.  Through cleaning and sanitizing after an outbreak is one of the biggest noro control measures for vessels, but if that doesn’t work, like was seen earlier this year with the Celebrity Mercury in three straight voyages, maybe it’s time to move the ship to Europe and rename it?

The most recent food safety infosheet addresses Norovirus outbreaks on cruiseships and cleaning up vomit as noro control.

You can download the infosheet here.