According to a June 5 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 41 cases of Salmonella Typhimurium since November 2013 have been linked to exposure to various clinical and college and university teaching microbiology laboratories. Of those who became ill, 62 were 21 years old or younger, and 36 percent were hospitalized. No deaths were reported. These same strains of Salmonella Typhimurium have been associated with outbreaks linked to microbiology laboratory exposure in the past, the CDC said. Those exposed to bacteria used in laboratory settings can spread the bacteria to others with whom they come into contact outside the lab, including young children who may be especially vulnerable. CDC has produced an educational flyer entitled, “What You Work With Can Make You Sick,” to remind those who work in laboratory settings of the potential risk of carrying pathogens outside the lab. The agency also recommends that laboratories use non-pathogenic or attenuated bacterial strains when possible. Public health investigators used the CDC’s PulseNet system to recognize the outbreak. PulseNet, the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories, obtains DNA “fingerprints” of Salmonella bacteria through diagnostic testing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE. The strains in this outbreak are the same ones known to be commercially available for teaching laboratories and have been used at the laboratories associated with this outbreak. At least 109 people in 2011 were sickened with one of these same strains of Salmonella Typhimurium via exposure at clinical and teaching microbiology laboratories.
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The European Commission has assessed histamine controls in fishery products with training highlighted as one of the major problems.
Histamine toxicity, also known as scombroid poisoning, is associated with consumption
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published six pieces of research relating to efforts to reduce Campylobacter in chicken meat.
The papers cover interventions applied at slaughterhouses, in the supply
The Belgian food agency’s annual report was released recently and highlighted a fatal E. coli outbreak and revealed food fraud cases.
The Federal Agency for the Safety of the
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
Fayus Inc., doing business as Yusol International Foods of Sacramento, CA, is recalling OLA-OLA POUNDED YAM because the product may contain undeclared milk in the form of sodium caseinate,
Eunha Fisheries Co. Ltd. of Busan, Republic of Korea, is recalling certain Sliced Korean Halibut and Flounder Sashimi products because the accompanying soy sauce and vinegar red pepper paste packets
Gellert Global Group of Elizabeth, NJ, is recalling 8.1 oz packages of ALDI Brand Fusia Asian Inspirations Kimchi & Tofu Kimbap because they may contain undeclared tuna.
People who
