February 2013

I am somewhere in the air over Nebraska off to give another food safety speech, and my office emailed me a letter that I have been awarded the Seattle University Law School Distinguished Graduate Award.  According to the letter, the award was established to honor an alumnus whose career achievements embody the mission, principles, and

Over 700 people were sickened and nine died as a result of the 2009 Salmonella outbreak and massive peanut recall.

AP reports today that Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell, his food broker brother Michael Parnell, Georgia plant manager Samuel Lightsey and Georgia plant quality assurance manager Mary Wilkerson entered pleas of not guilty

The FDA posted a recall notice from Zachary Confections, Inc., which announced yesterday a voluntary recall of certain production lots of its Zachary Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Eggs because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Zachary Confections has initiated this voluntary recall in response to a test result indicating the potential for Salmonella

This E. coli O157:H7 outbreak cost a school district $6,100,000.

On Thursday, October 15 the Benton-Franklin Health Department (BFHD) was notified of two hospitalized children at Kennewick General Hospital with bloody diarrhea, one of whom was culture confirmed with infection of E. coli O157:H7. On the same day a clinician in Kennewick, Washington notified BFHD of two additional cases of bloody diarrhea in children. BFHD staff interviewed parents of the four children and determined that they all attended the Finley Elementary School (FES).  As the average incubation period for E. coli O157:H7 ranges from 3 to 8 days, exposure to the agent most likely occurred sometime during the school week of October 5-9.

On October 16 Dr. Dan Jernigan at the Washington State Department of Health (WDOH) was notified by the Benton-Franlin Health District ~FHD) of the cluster of cases. Dr. Lauren Ball and Patti Waller, WDOH epidemiologists, were assigned to the BFHD outbreak investigation team. This report summarizes the findings.

Background

Finley is located in a predominately rural area in east Benton County. Family farms/pastures, irrigation systems, and residential water supplied by private wells are common in the community.  The Finley School District includes a high school (grades 9-12), a middle school (grades 6-8) and an elementary school (pre-school classes and grades K-S). The elementary school serves 466 students and employs 55 staff.

Both breakfast and lunch are served at the schools.  Typically meals are partially prepared in a central kitchen located at the high school and delivered to each of the schools in the morning for additional cooking and preparation for serving.  Water is supplied to the elementary school via a private well system.  The BFHD inspects the system regularly. Sewage disposal is via a private drain field.

Surveillance and Case Definition

On Friday October 16, 1998 the Finley School District telephoned parents/guardians of all children who had been absent from school to inform them of illness occurring among Finley students.  Parents of absent children were advised to seek medical advice if their children were experiencing a diarrheal illness or other flu-like illness.  Informational letters from the school district were sent to all parents of children attending Finley Elementary notifying them that the communicable illness E. coli O157:H7 had been diagnosed in some FES children.  These letters included educational information describing possible sources of infection, clinical symptoms, and the possibility of person to person transmission. Information on preventing E. coli infections was also disseminated widely by BFHD through local media, local physicians, and through the school district.  In addition, the school district sent a letter to all residents of the Finley community to inform the public of the outbreak.

A confirmed case was defined as a Finley resident or visitor with culture confirmed E. coli O157:H7 diarrhea occurring after October 1, 1998 and epidemiologic linkage to FES.

A probable case was defined as a Finley resident or visitor with bloody diarrhea of unknown origin occurring after October 1, 1998, and/or complications of hemolytic uremic syndrome with epidemiologic linkage to FES.


Continue Reading 1998 Outbreak of E coli O157:H7 at Finley Elementary School – Epidemiology and Environmental Science Working Well Together

Earlier today, FDA released the letter in which the agency threw down its gauntlet and demanded that Kasel Associates Industries, Inc. recall contaminated pet treats. The February 13, 2013 “Notification of Opportunity to Initiate a Voluntary Recall”, was hand-delivered to Raymond J. Kasel. The letter stated the basis for FDA’s determination that “…there is a

According to the Wall Street Journal, IKEA, the Swedish furniture giant, was drawn into Europe’s growing horse meat scandal after food inspectors in the Czech Republic found traces of horse meat in a batch of IKEA’s signature food item – Swedish meatballs.  While the scandal has been raging in Europe for weeks, many of the

During the time period of the outbreak, April 18 to April 30, 2002, over 7,000 people ate at the Western Sizzlin’ restaurant in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.  The Health Department in the Toe River Health District handled over 900 telephone calls and conducted 621 surveys of people who ate at the restaurant.  There were 369

What would we do without efoodalert?

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