The first reported case of human illness from E. coli O146:H28 was recorded this year in Switzerland in a two-day-old boy. While this strain of E. coli was known to be pathogenic because it produces Shiga toxins, it had not previously produced symptoms in infected humans. Researchers speculate that the newborn contracted the bacteria from… Continue Reading
The Organic Spinach and Spring Mix Blend salad makings responsible for an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC O157:H7) has sickened 28 and put ten people in hospitals. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta on Monday said most of the cases were in New York State. Of those… Continue Reading
Opinion
Several years ago I started following the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). It used to come weekly in the mail (perhaps it still does), but it is a bit easier to see it online and it can be quickly downloaded. Given my profession, I tend to quickly pass over some of the other… Continue Reading
Opinion
For some time now, the worldwide food supply has been under attack by a bacterium we know well as a generally non-trouble-making resident of the human colon (Escherichia coli), which has lately been possessed of a terrible “new” weapon in the form of Shiga toxin. We call this beast “Shiga toxin-producing E. coli” (STEC). We… Continue Reading
A team of researchers at Tufts University has developed a powerful and efficient way to weaken toxins and clear them from the body. Toxins produced by dangerous bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum or certain strains of E. coli can cause serious damage or even death if allowed to take their course. Current strategies for combating… Continue Reading
Opinion
E. coli O157:H7, O26, O111, O103, O121, O45 and O145 – it can get a bit(e) confusing. As of June 8, 2012, the CDC and various State health Departments report that there are 14 cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O145 infection with indistinguishable DNA patterns that have been identified in lab samples from… Continue Reading
Two unrelated E. coli deaths at the end of May — a 6-year-old Massachusetts boy and a 21-month-old girl in Louisiana — still have public health officials searching for possible sources and explanations. In Millbury, Massachusetts, Owen Carrignan died May 26 after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a kidney disease brought on severe E. coli… Continue Reading
Just days before the agency is set to begin testing raw beef trimmings for more strains of disease-causing E. coli, the Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a detailed response to comments it has received about the new policy. The new document, published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, confirms that despite industry calls for… Continue Reading
A conversation with our nation’s highest ranking food safety official, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on the agency’s landmark new policy on non-O157 STECs. Q: Can you give us a little bit of the background – some of the back story or detail that we maybe… Continue Reading
Antibiotics are not usually recommended for treating E. coli infections; however one of these drugs showed promising results when given to victims of last year’s massive European outbreak linked to sprouts. Azithromycin, administered to patients to prevent the spread of meningitis, was associated with a shorter duration of shedding of the E. coli O104:H4 bacteria… Continue Reading
In the wake of the devastating European E. coli outbreak linked to sprouts that killed at least 50 people and sickened more than 4,000, experts from the European Union and the United States are calling for new research on how to combat toxic strains of E. coli. In November of 2011, 4 months after the… Continue Reading