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  • I ate a fast food burger and it made me sick a few hours later: doubtful

    Posted: April 20th, 2008 - 2:14pm by Doug Powell

    Dallas Morning News columnist James Ragland tried to raise awareness of foodborne illness yesterday but instead perpetuated some of the worst myths -- that barfing is caused by the last food eaten and that fast-food burger joints are largely to blame.

    Ragland writes that on Monday,

    "I decided to swing through a popular fast-food restaurant to grab a burger, fries and a cold drink.

    Hours later, the burger grabbed back. My stomach tightened. A chill fell over me. Then sweat.

    If you've ever had food poisoning, you know what happened next.

    One recurring thought crossed my mind as my wife patiently dabbed a cold damp towel across my forehead: "Go into the kitchen, fetch the solid cast-iron skillet and whack me over the head with it!"

    By week's end, I was still struggling to get back to full strength, relying mostly on saltines and Gatorade."

    Foodborne illness sucks for anyone, and Ragland deserves credit for reporting on the topic and telling people how to report foodborne illness in Dallas. However, except for a few toxins, it's not the last meal that made someone like Ragland sick, and fast-food joints -- especially the popular ones -- have fairly good food safety systems; they have too, with so many outlets and so many people looking to make a fast buck. Incubation times for most foodborne ailments can be found in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bad Bug Book at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/app2.html.

    If you think food made you sick, here's what to do:

    • go to the doctor if necessary;

    • keep the food, in the fridge or freezer if necessary; and,

    • contact your local health department.



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    Fast Food, If Food Made You Sick
  • Farm closes in N. Ireland after visitors contract E. coli

    Posted: April 20th, 2008 - 11:55am by Doug Powell

    About 90 children and staff at three primary schools in south Belfast are to be tested for the E. coli infection after a P1 pupil at Rosetta Primary School was confirmed as carrying the bug.

    Pupils at the school recently took part in a school excursion to an open farm near Belfast along with children from Cregagh and Holy Rosary primaries.

    The Eastern Health Board said other people who had contracted the infection in recent weeks had some contact with the farm.

    Children and pensioners are especially vulnerable to E. coli O157 which is normally found in the intestines of people and cattle and can be passed on by eating infected food and liquid.

    Not quite.

    E. coli O157 and other verotoxigenic E. coli are found in about 10 per cent of all ruminants -- cattle, sheep, goats, deer -- and outbreaks have been linked to each.

    So while the farm says,

    "We are confident that our intensive cleaning programme over the weekend will further reassure the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on Monday and that we will immediately reopen for business,"

    it may not be that simple.

    There have been over 20 outbreaks of severe illness from petting zoos -- primarily contact with farm animals -- in the past decade.

    159 people, mainly children, were sickened with E. coli O157:H7 traced to a goat and a sheep at the petting zoo at the 1999 Western Fair in London, Ontario.

    Prof. Hugh Pennington of the U.K. has gone so far as to say that children under five (who are more vulnerable because of their still-developing immune systems) should be banned from visiting livestock farms because of the serious risk of acquiring E. coli O157:H7 infection from farm animals. Such a ban already exists in Sweden.

    In the fall of 1998, I accompanied one of my four daughters on a kindergarten trip to the farm (left). After petting the animals and touring the crops --I questioned the fresh manure on the strawberries --we were assured that all the food produced was natural. We then returned for unpasteurized apple cider. The host served the cider in a coffee urn, heated, so my concern about it being unpasteurized was abated. I asked: "Did you serve the cider heated because you heard about other outbreaks and were concerned about liability?" She responded, "No. The stuff starts to smell when it's a few weeks old and heating removes the smell."

    There is much to learn from interacting with animals    , farms and the world. The challenge is to do so in a microbiologically safe manner.
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    Farm Visits, Ireland
  • Why burn poop on a doorstep when you can cook it in a 7-Eleven microwave

    Posted: April 17th, 2008 - 9:21pm by Doug Powell

    Three high school students who thought they were being funny by sticking a bag of poop in a Sandy, Utah 7-Eleven microwave and cooking it for 10 minutes have been arrested.

    Earlier this week, police released surveillance video of three teens who walked into the convenience store near 2200 East and 9400 South, took out a one-gallon plastic bag with human feces inside and put it into the microwave while the clerk wasn't looking.

    The boys left the store, and the clerk figured out what had happened when a foul stench filled the building. The store had to be closed temporarily because of the odor.

    Sandy police Sgt. Victor Quezada said the surveillance video was broadcast by local news stations, investigators received numerous tips from callers, and that on Wednesday morning, five high school students were greeted by police as they arrived for school in the morning. Two of the boys eventually were released, while the other three, two aged 16 and a 17-year-old, were arrested for investigation of third-degree felony criminal mischief.

    The 7-Eleven figured out the video surveillance thing, but USDA says it's too complicated for slaughterhouses.


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    7-eleven, Cooking Show Video, Doneness, Meat, Poop', Surveillance
  • USDA says newfangled technology not required, slaughterhouses are fine

    Posted: April 17th, 2008 - 7:45pm by Doug Powell

    Dr. Raymond has spoken: the U.S. Department of Agriculture needs neither videocameras nor more inspectors to police slaughterhouses after the country's largest beef recall earlier this year.

    Everything is just fine.

    Raymond, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for food safety (right, on the left, at Marler's food safety bash last week), told a House subcommittee that USDA has enough food inspectors after hiring more than 190 last year and videotaping meat plant operations would be costly and practically difficult to implement, adding, "It's not as simple as a camera," and that the agency was "not stretched too thin."

    Raymond's response angered House members    , who said the recall of beef slaughtered in the Hallmark/Westland plant in Chino, Calif., showed a need for improvements.

    The beef was recalled after the Humane Society of the United States released an undercover video showing the mistreatment of sick cows at the Westland/Hallmark plant in Chino, Calif.

    As I've said before, USDA may need to adopt some new inspection and investigative techniques if the HSUS can so easily document such grotesquely poor treatment of animals.

    And unlike 12th century France, USDA has access to the same video technology that a single undercover worker -- not the five USDA inspectors on-site -- was able to use to bring down a large corporation. Producers and processors who say their food is safe should be able to prove it. Producers and processors who say they treat animals humanely should be able to prove it.

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    Animal Welfare, Food Safety Policy  |  2 Comments
    Cooking Show Video, Slaughterhouse
  • Life without Internet

    Posted: April 17th, 2008 - 12:05pm by Doug Powell

    When the residents of South Park awaken to discover they have no Internet service, and eventually determine there's no Internet to check why there's no Internet, they begin a Tom Joad-like trek to California, although in this case it's Silicon Valley.

    I was reminded of my own Internet dependence, which became clear during the great Manhattan (Kansas) ice storm of 2007. Or traveling in France last year, aimlessly walking around neighborhoods trying to pick up free Internet (hint, the French password protect everything).

    But I wouldn't trade it for John Adams-era communication, waiting for word of a French alliance to arrive by boat.
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  • Top Chef tailgating

    Posted: April 17th, 2008 - 11:07am by Doug Powell

    Ryan learned on Top Chef last night that California-style tailgating doesn't play too well in the heartland -- or at least, Chicago.

    Accurately measuring whether food is safe or not is also not high on the Top Chef to-do list. Sure, the Australian dude (or New Zealand, the show refers to him interchangeably, which will equally please the Aussies and Kiwis) was chastised for being unsanitary -- cross contamination and double dipping -- but use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer to ensure safety and quality. Sick it in.

    Check out our youtube video of tailgaters at Kansas State's last home game - against Missouri -- back in Nov. 2007.



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    Food Safety Policy, Thermometers  |  0 Comments
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  • New International Food Safety Network Infosheet -- Cereal potentially linked to illnesses

    Posted: April 16th, 2008 - 12:02pm by Ben Chapman

    This weeks infosheet is all about last weeks announcement of a Salmonella Agona outbreak linked to Malt-O-Meal cereal and what operators and food handlers need to know about it.

    Infosheet highlights:
    At least 23 people in 14 states have been sickened by the same strain of Salmonella found in breakfast cereals recalled by Malt-O-Meal.
    What can you do during this recall?
    -Ask at your store or restaurant about the use of any of these products
    -Remove the product from your shelves or stock room
    -Return the recalled product to where you purchased it or your supplier
    -For more information on the date codes of recalled products including pictures see: www.malt-o-meal.com/recallinfo/

    Click here to download the infosheet.

    The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food handlers is also now available at foodsafetyinfosheets.ksu.edu. Infosheets are created weekly by iFSN and are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world.  If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact me at bchapman@uoguelph.ca.
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  • Mom says raw milk made kids sick

    Posted: April 16th, 2008 - 6:22am by Doug Powell

    A mother writes in the blog of the New Jersey Star-Ledger that,
     
    "What began as a two-night getaway at a farm in Lancaster County, Pa., turned into a calamity of nightmarish proportions for me and my two kids when we drank raw milk.

    My friend and I took our children to a working farm during spring break. They milked cows, fed bottles of milk to calves and ran free on acres of land - a rarity for these city kids.

    They also drank the milk that was on the breakfast table, a milk I might add, that was the most silky and delicious any of us had ever tasted. We were told it was unpasteurized, but made to believe it was safe. (I assumed it was at least boiled).

    A day after returning home, we knew we had made a terrible mistake. The first to fall ill was my five-year-old daughter, who had a high fever, then stomach flu symptoms, then my four-year-old son, then me.

    My friend and her family had become violently ill as well. We spent seven days worried that our kids could dehydrate and forced them to drink gallons of Gatorade. My friend did get dehydrated and needed intravenous fluids in order to return to her job as a nurse.

    After a week of this torture, medical tests showed we had contracted campylobacter, a bacterial food poisoning that can be found in unpasteurized milk. The six of us were prescribed antibiotics.

    Thankfully, we're all going to be OK.

    To be fair, campylobacter can also be spread by contact with raw or undercooked poultry, as the farm owners later told us, but the likely culprit according to my doctor was the raw milk."
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    Campylobacter, Raw Milk Cheese
  • Safely preparing cantaloupe

    Posted: April 15th, 2008 - 8:38pm by Doug Powell

    On March 22, 2008 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised consumers not to eat cantaloupes from a Honduran grower because they may have been contaminated with Salmonella.  The outbreak has so far caused over 50 illnesses in 16 states, and at least nine illnesses in Canada.  Warnings and recalls related to cantaloupes are common. This is largely due to their growing conditions and their porosity.

    A table of U.S. outbreaks related to the consumption of cantaloupe is available at: http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/1183/cantaloupe_outbreaks_.pdf

    How can consumers enjoy cantaloupe without the burden of becoming sick?  The most important thing to do is to minimize the chances of contaminating the interior of the fruit.  This is done by preventing the rind from contaminating the inside of the cantaloupe, either by direct contact or by cross contamination.  There are different methods used for preparing a cantaloupe, but there is disagreement over which is the most effective technique.

    References:

    “Reducing Salmonella on cantaloupes and honeydew melons using wash practices applicable to postharvest handling, foodservice, and consumer preparation”. Tracy L. Parnell, Linda J. Harris, Trevor V. Suslow.  University of California.  International Journal of Food Microbiology 99 (2005) 59-70.

    “Effect of Sanitizer Treatments on Salmonella Stanley Attached to the Surface of Cantaloupe and Cell Transfer to Fresh-Cut Tissues during Cutting Practices”. Dike O. Ukuku and Gerald M. Sapers.  U.S. Department of Agriculture. Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 64, No. 9, 2001.




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  • Cooking with a microwave

    Posted: April 15th, 2008 - 4:49pm by Doug Powell

    In October 2007, at least 270 people in 36 American states got sick with Salmonella after eating Banquet Pot Pies, leading to a national recall and prompting many to question the safety of microwave cooking. Since the outbreak, the manufacturer, ConAgra, has revamped their labeling to try to ensure proper microwave preparation by consumers.  But questions still loom whether these label changes are enough, and may leave people wondering how to properly cook using a microwave.

    For thick items that can’t be cut:
    ∑ use medium power;
    ∑ microwave for a longer period of time;
    ∑ stir, turn, or flip food halfway through to limit cold spots;
    ∑ let food stand for a couple minutes when finished microwaving; and,
    ∑ be cautious of bones (they can act as heat shields.

    There are many other variables that dictate how well food is cooked in the microwave, including:
    ∑ type of container;
    ∑ physical state of food (frozen or thawed);
    ∑ type of food;
    ∑ product geometry;
    ∑ moisture content;
    ∑ bone presence; and,
    ∑ microwave wattage.

    The wattage of a microwave is located on the back or inside the door.  Microwave power is grouped into high (1000 – 1300 W), medium (700-900 W) and low (500-600 W).  Many labels on microwave foods give cook times for high, medium and low wattage microwaves, so it is handy to know the wattage being used.

    There are hundreds of frozen, prepared products or meals, like pot pies, that may contain raw or fully cooked ingredients. The only way to know is to read labels carefully. Package labels may also contain instructions to cook to 165°F for poultry and 160°F for beef and other meats, and to verify doneness using a digital, tip-sensitive thermometer.  To be on the safe side, leftovers should reach 145°F.


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  • Food safety in Seattle

    Posted: April 13th, 2008 - 11:19pm by Doug Powell

    The Dali Lama is at the hotel next door, Chris Rock is doing standup at a theatre down the street, and I'm sitting at Seattle University with a bunch of food safety geeks.

    Wouldn't have it any other way.

    What I learned from Marler's food safety conference in Seattle for the past two days is:

    • the supposed experts are as confused as mere mortals when it comes to food safety solutions;

    • faith-based food safety systems are as common as I thought they might be; and,

    • there's a whole lot of supposedly smart people who can't be bothered to edit themselves to their allotted time.

    Marketing food safety at retail may be a way to create a food safety culture from farm-to-fork.

    Oh, and they protest about everything in Seattle.


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    Food Safety Culture, Food Safety Policy  |  0 Comments
    Marler
  • Malt-O-Meal puffed cereals may be salmonella outbreak source

    Posted: April 12th, 2008 - 2:41pm by Doug Powell

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that at least 23 people in 14 states have been diagnosed with salmonellosis that was caused by the same strain of Salmonella that was found in the recently recalled unsweetened Puffed Rice and unsweetened Puffed Wheat Cereals produced by Malt-O-Meal.


    The recalled products were distributed nationally under the Malt-O-Meal brand name as well as under private label brands including Acme, America's Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw's, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. The cereals have "Best If Used By" dates from April 8, 2008 (coded as "APR0808") through March 18, 2009 (coded as "MAR1809").

    Consumers should throw out any product in their homes from these recalled lots. Grocery stores and other retailers should promptly remove the cereals from their shelves.

    Salmonella is a type of bacteria that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of foodborne Salmonella infection include nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. In persons with poor health or weakened immune systems, Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections.

    Individuals who believe they may have experienced an illness consistent with the symptoms described above after consuming a puffed wheat or puffed rice cereal made by Malt-O-Meal should contact their health care practitioner immediately and report the illness to their state or local health authorities.


    On April 5, 2008, Malt-O-Meal voluntarily recalled the cereals because the company’s routine testing found Salmonella in a product produced on March 24, 2008.

    The FDA is working with Malt-O-Meal to determine the cause of the contamination and with the states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify and prevent additional illnesses.

    A full list of recalled products can be found at www.malt-o-meal.com/recallinfo.
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  • From the celebrity illness file: R2D2 actor Kenny Baker falls ill on flight

    Posted: April 12th, 2008 - 9:45am by Ben Chapman

    Flick Direct is reporting today that Kenny Baker, best known for his role as R2-D2 in Star Wars was fell ill on a flight from the US to England on Thursday and was rushed to hospital immediately after landing at the airport.  Flick Direct  goes on to say that a family member said that he was recovering last night and expected to be home in a few days.  "Kenny's conscious and talking, hopefully hell be absolutely fine", said one relative.  Kenny played R2-D2 in all 6 of the Star Wars films.
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  • Meat safety chief: Increase E. coli testing

    Posted: April 11th, 2008 - 6:02pm by Doug Powell

    Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reported from Seattle this morning that USDA’s undersecretary for food safety, Richard Raymond, said he’s determined to increase testing for E. coli contamination before he leaves office, adding,

    "We need to address this tougher problem and take some moves there to help protect the American public."

    Raymond, a physician who was formerly the chief medical officer in Nebraska, said results from some public health laboratories shows illnesses form non-O157 strains of E. coli are “at least as prevalent” as O157 illnesses. He said the non-O157 strains are harder to detect.

    I'm at the same conference, Who's Minding the Store? - The Current State of Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved, hosted by lawyer and barfblog sugar daddy Bill Marler.

    Washington  Governor Christine Gregoire (right) gave the food safety luncheon address.

    I chatted with the affable Dr. Raymond after his presentation, and asked him if USDA would consider using video cameras to augment veterinary inspection in slaughterhouses. He said, "ask me after next Thursday."

    Raymond, and several of the other speakers stated that the political-media focus on a single food inspection agency was a distraction.

    I agree. Whatever is done, it should reduce the number of sick people. That's the measure that counts, and one where progress has stalled.
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    Fsis, Marler, Sebelius HHS FDA USDA raymond, Usda
  • Hamburger Habits: Is Medium Safe?

    Posted: April 11th, 2008 - 5:49pm by Amy Hubbell

    I’m a reformed medium-rare hamburger eater. Before I met Doug, I always wanted my hamburgers pink in the middle and frankly had no clue that this was a potentially risky habit. Now that I’ve learned hamburger needs to be cooked to 160 F to be safe, however, I rarely eat hamburger unless Doug cooks it at home. That’s the only way I can assure that the cook is using a meat thermometer and knows how to properly do so.

    Tonight, though, I’m in Buffalo, NY and I had dinner with two British friends in a rowdy Irish pub. While I intended to order salad, the pickings were few on the menu and I settled on a cheeseburger with fries. The waitress asked me, “How do you want that cooked.” Somewhat startled and without my food safety arsenal beside me, I said, “Medium.” I hate well-done hamburger because of the texture, but I wanted my burger safe. How could I tell her that?

    My burger came and was very medium rare looking … very pink in the middle and done on the outside. I ate it. The whole thing. And it tasted good. And now I’m thinking about my foolish behavior and wondering if I’ll get e. coli. I know that color is a lousy indicator and I know it’s not likely I’ll get sick. But without the thermometer, how can you be sure?



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    E. coli, Food Safety Culture, Food Safety Policy, Thermometers  |  5 Comments
    Hamburger, Medium, Medium Rare
  • Does magic food make kids barf?

    Posted: April 11th, 2008 - 12:46pm by Doug Powell

    "Raw milk is like a magic food for children."

    So says Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

    She adds.

    "Without the green grass, you're missing a lot of vitamins. Also, it's much safer. When cows are eating green grass, you don't find pathogens in their milk."

    With such statements, public advocacy becomes public health risk.

    The natural reservoirs for E. coli O157:H7 and other verotoxigenic E. coli is the intestines of all ruminants, including cattle -- grass or grain-fed -- sheep, goats, deer and the like. The final report of the fall 2006 spinach outbreak identifies nearby grass-fed beef cattle as the likely source of the E. coli O157:H7 that sickened 200 and killed 4.

    A table of raw dairy outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/384/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf

    Kids are often the ones that get sick.

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    Grass-fed, Raw Milk Cheese
  • New strategies required to reduce foodborne illness says CDC; don't eat poop

    Posted: April 10th, 2008 - 9:44pm by Doug Powell

    The Centers for Disease Control reported today that foodborne illness remains a significant public health issue in the U.S., with Salmonella infections increasingly problematic.

    "Although significant declines in the incidence of certain foodborne pathogens have occurred since 1996, these declines all occurred before 2004," the CDC reported (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5714a2.htm).

    "Outbreaks caused by contaminated peanut butter, frozen pot pies, and a puffed vegetable snack in 2007 underscore the need to prevent contamination of commercially produced products. The outbreak associated with turtle exposure highlights the importance of animals as a nonfood source of human infections. To reduce the incidence of Salmonella infections, concerted efforts are needed throughout the food supply chain, from farm to processing plant to kitchen."

    "Food safety is a continuing problem that starts at the farm and continues through the food chain all the way to the kitchen," Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of CDC's Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, said during a teleconference.

    Given that rates of foodborne infection haven't changed significantly in the past three years, more needs to be done to improve food safety, Tauxe said "We have to be vigilant about hygiene practices and prevention all along the way to reduce the risk of foodborne infection."

    "There's just way too many sick people," said Dr. Douglas Powell, an associate professor and scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University.

    " The CDC data show existing efforts to reduce fodborne illness have stalled," said Powell, who also publishes barfblog.com. "We need new messages using new media to really create a culture that values microbiologically safe food."
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  • Parasites found in Alamosa, Colorado water

    Posted: April 9th, 2008 - 9:26pm by Doug Powell

    After three weeks of a boil-water advisory, the 8,500 residents were hoping for the all-clear today, so they could have a shower, brush their teeth, and maybe even a glass of water without hauling 5-gallon carboys of water around the house.

    Oh-oh.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called in to help with the outbreak of Salmonellas that has so far sickened 389, found two different parasites -- giardia and cryptosporidium -- present in the water system before it was flushed with high doses of chlorine last week.

    The city remains on a "boil order" requiring residents to boil water before drinking it or using it for cooking.

    A thorough investigation into the intricacies of a municipal water supply becoming contaminated can be found in the Walkerton Commission of Inquiry, held after E. coli O157:H7 got into the water supply of Walkerton, Ontario in 2000, sickening half the town of 5,000 and killing seven.
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  • USDA to start testing for non-O157 E. coli in beef

    Posted: April 9th, 2008 - 3:36pm by Doug Powell

    Meatingplace.com was first to report on plans by USDA to start testing ground beef and ground beef component samples for non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STECs) to determine whether to declare them adulterants.

    (A couple of relevant outbreak tables involving non-O157 STECs are available at:
    http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2007/10/articles/e-coli/nono157-stec-meeting/)

    Officials from USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service told about 200 participants at a public meeting on Wednesday the agency will test both samples that test positive and those that test negative for E. coli O157:H7, but production lots will not be recalled, seized or detained if they only test positive for non-O157 STECs. The data is being generated only for study purposes at this time.

    USDA will issue a public notice to announce a start date, which has not been determined. FSIS Deputy Assistant Administrator Daniel Engeljohn said the agency will assess the testing data "over a limited timeframe sufficient to ascertain the general likelihood of the presence of selected non-O157 STECs."

    "Based on the evidence that we develop from our testing, as well as other available evidence, we will decide whether to declare selected non-O157 STECs to be adulterants," he said in a presentation prepared for the group.

    Elizabeth Hagen, FSIS executive associate for Public Health, said the testing will focus on six groups of E. coli bacteria — O26, O111, O103, O121, O45 and O145 — which are responsible for 75 percent of non-O157 illnesses. She noted the true incidence of non-O157 human illness is difficult to define, due to limited awareness and non-uniform surveillance. Outbreaks worldwide have been associated with varied non-food and food vehicles, including meat.

    While USDA has not yet decided to declare the non-O157 STECs adulterants, Engeljohn outlined the process if the agency does. The agency would:

        * define applicable products from slaughter/dressing and further processing operations
        * issue a Federal Register Notice in the form of an interpretive rule
        * establish an effective date that ensures sufficient time to address seamless implementation for both domestic and imported products
        * issue compliance guidelines
        * issue policy implementation instructions and train FSIS inspection personnel
        * conduct outreach to the regulated industry.

    Well aware of the controversy these and other proposed actions are likely to generate, FSIS Under Secretary Richard Raymond opened the meeting by saying, "You certainly may hear things you don't agree with…Progress won't occur if we're just wanting to avoid discomfort by maintaining the old status quo. The E. coli bug is obviously not satisfied with the status quo and neither should we be."

    More to follow.
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    Stec
  • Roy Costa, guest barfblogger: The "Great Escapes Resort" can't escape scrutiny after viral outbreak

    Posted: April 9th, 2008 - 3:15pm by

    A Six Flags water park and resort complex in up-state New York known as "Great Escapes", is the 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.

    --
    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
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