Shigella from sugar peas in Scandinavia
The peas apparently came from Kenya. But that wouldn’t fit the alliteration.
Eurosurveillance reports that in Norway, shigellosis is a mandatorily notifiable disease, and all isolates are submitted to the NIPH for verification and typing. Around 150 cases of shigellosis are confirmed per year, the majority caused by Shigella sonnei. Only around 10 to 20 of the shigellosis cases reported each year are acquired in Norway, usually as secondary cases caused by faecal-oral transmission in households.
An outbreak investigation was initiated on 27 May by interviewing the four confirmed cases using a trawling questionnaire. On the same day the NFSA inspectors visited the two households where suspected cases were reported and found an unopened package of sugar peas imported from Kenya in one household, and the packing of the same brand of sugar peas in the other. The sugar peas were bought in the same shop. Based on this suspicion, it was decided to focus the interviews on consumption of fresh vegetables and lettuce.
By 16 June, the reference laboratory has registered a total of 20 cases with the outbreak strain of Shigella sonnei, who had not travelled abroad prior to illness onset. The cases live in different municipalities, but mainly in the central and western parts of Norway. The date of onset for the first case was 10 May. All cases were adults except for one teenager, and 16 of them were women. All 20 cases reported to have eaten sugar peas, and there were no other obvious common exposures identified. The majority of the patients had bought the sugar peas in one of the large supermarket chains and only a few in another chain. The NFSA traced the suspected food product and found that all the implicated sugar peas were produced in Kenya. One sample from the unopened package of sugar peas collected in a patient household was positive for Shigella sonnei by both PCR methods, but could not be culture-confirmed.
As a response to our urgent inquiry Denmark reported an increase in the number of domestic Shigella sonnei infections in April and May 2009. They initiated an outbreak investigation to find out if the Danish cases were related to the outbreak in Norway. The investigation in Denmark also pointed at sugar peas as the source of the outbreak, and microbiological investigations (including MLVA typing) to compare the outbreak strains are ongoing.
Could credit card receipts save children's lives?
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has confirmed a genetic match for an infection of E. coli O157 among three children who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) this year.
The Institute reported this week,
“The first child became ill in January, the second in February and the third in March. In addition, a sibling of one of the children has also developed HUS, but it has not yet been confirmed whether this is the same bacterial strain.”
One of the four children—all of which are under the age of ten—has died.
The source of the outbreak has yet to be determined. County food safety officials are currently questioning the families of victims on the children's meals and testing leftover food, while federal officials are seeking information on any further possible cases (i.e. persons, and particularly children, with bloody diarrhea who test positive for enterohemorrhagic E. coli).
I wonder if they’ve looked into the families’ grocery store receipts?
A peer-reviewed article in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases reports that the source of a 2007 outbreak of E. coli in Denmark was found using credit card information.
Investigators had struggled to determine the source of a strain of E. coli O26 that infected 20 Danish children between February and May of 2007.
Flesh and Stone reports that when interviews failed to yield any likely suspect foods, investigators turned to shopping lists.
“Parents in seven families provided their credit card information and a list of supermarkets where they had shopped. The two supermarket chains that the parents had used most often agreed to help with the investigation. The stores searched their central computers for the precise amount paid and the date and the location of the shop.
“From there, investigators determined that five families had purchased the same brand of fermented, organic beef sausage. A sixth family was linked to the same sausage brand through shopping records provided by the kindergarten attended by two children who became infected with the same E. coli strain, STEC O26. An unopened sample of the sausage also tested positive for the strain.”
Authors of the CID article acknowledged that relying on memory to identify similarities among the diets of outbreak victims diets is often unsuccessful and found credit card information to be “a strong tool in the [current] investigation.”
Investigation of a similar outbreak of E. coli O157 in Iceland successfully used the same method some months later. It could be worth a try for Norway.
Botulism in Danish baby food?
Have you noticed a trend? Blog posts at 4 a.m., bad baby metaphors, bad writing cause my brains are mush?
Must be a baby in the house.
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) writes on their website that there are suspicions that Hipp's fruit purée with banana and apricot may contain Colstridium Botulinum, following an outbreak of illness in Denmark.
They are now recommending that all parents who have bought jars marked L35655, with a use-by date of 31.12.08 should throw them away.
The Danish Food Safety Authority has sent the fruit purée for test ananlysis, and a final confirmation as to whether the food is poisonous will come at the end of the week.
A quick trip to the Hipp Organic Baby Food web site finds lots of what isn’t in Hipp baby food like melamine or Irish pork, but no mention of botulism.
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
Real food porn
Reuters is reporting that Norway's largest erotic chain store was forced to change the labeling on products such as penis pasta, candy cuffs and chocolate body painting, to comply with Norwegian food regulations.The Norwegian food safety authority, whose goal it is to make sure consumers have healthy and safe food, conducted a surprise inspection at one of the chain's stores and found that several products violated food labeling regulations.
Kjersti Antonsen, a sexual adviser in the store, said, "We have panties, bras, handcuffs and suspender belts made out of candy," and that the store will comply with the regulations and label all its food products.
The food safety authority also said the store also breached rules of importing erotic candy, which should be reported to authorities at least 24 hours before arrival.
Listeria kills 2, sickens 12 in Norway
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Aftenposten reported Friday that two patients at the National Hospital in Oslo, Norway, died as a result of an infection linked to listeria and another 12 have been sickened since Oct. 1.Hospital officials were cited as saying the source of the bacteria has not yet been pinpointed, but they said it may have come from contaminated cold food, possibly cheese. All refrigerated food at the hospital has been discarded, but officials said new cases may still arise as the bacteria's incubation period can last for up to a month.
Pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems are especially susceptible to listeria. A recent Australian study found that over half of expectant mothers received no information about the risks associated with listeria and certain foods.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommendations for persons at high risk, such as pregnant women and persons with weakened immune systems, includes:
-Do not eat hot dogs, luncheon meats, or deli meats, unless they are reheated until steaming hot.
-Avoid getting fluid from hot dog packages on other foods, utensils, and food preparation surfaces, and wash hands after handling hot dogs, luncheon meats, and deli meats.
-Do not eat soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, and Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, or Mexican-style cheeses such as queso blanco, queso fresco, and Panela, unless they have labels that clearly state they are made from pastuerized milk.
-Do not eat refrigerated pâtés or meat spreads. Canned or shelf-stable pâtés and meat spreads may be eaten.
-Do not eat refrigerated smoked seafood, unless it is contained in a cooked dish, such as a casserole. Refrigerated smoked seafood, such as salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna or mackerel, is most often labeled as "nova-style," "lox," "kippered," "smoked," or "jerky." The fish is found in the refrigerator section or sold at deli counters of grocery stores and delicatessens. Canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood may be eaten.
Listeria kills 2, sickens 12 in Norway
.jpg)
Aftenposten reported Friday that two patients at the National Hospital in Oslo, Norway, died as a result of an infection linked to listeria and another 12 have been sickened since Oct. 1.Hospital officials said the source of the bacteria has not yet been pinpointed, but it may have come from contaminated cold food, possibly cheese. All refrigerated food at the hospital has been discarded, but officials said new cases may still arise as the bacteria's incubation period can last for up to a month.
Pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems are especially susceptible to listeria. A recent Australian study found that over half of expectant mothers received no information about the risks associated with listeria and certain foods.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommendations for persons at high risk, such as pregnant women and persons with weakened immune systems, includes:
-Do not eat hot dogs, luncheon meats, or deli meats, unless they are reheated until steaming hot.
-Avoid getting fluid from hot dog packages on other foods, utensils, and food preparation surfaces, and wash hands after handling hot dogs, luncheon meats, and deli meats.
-Do not eat soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, and Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, or Mexican-style cheeses such as queso blanco, queso fresco, and Panela, unless they have labels that clearly state they are made from pastuerized milk.
-Do not eat refrigerated pâtés or meat spreads. Canned or shelf-stable pâtés and meat spreads may be eaten.
-Do not eat refrigerated smoked seafood, unless it is contained in a cooked dish, such as a casserole. Refrigerated smoked seafood, such as salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna or mackerel, is most often labeled as "nova-style," "lox," "kippered," "smoked," or "jerky." The fish is found in the refrigerator section or sold at deli counters of grocery stores and delicatessens. Canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood may be eaten.
