October 2008

From CDC’s MMWR:

On November 27, 2007, a local health officer in central Massachusetts contacted the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to report listeriosis in a man aged 87 years. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) performed on the patient’s Listeria monocytogenes isolate produced a pattern indistinguishable from that of isolates from three other cases identified in residents of central Massachusetts in June, October, and early November 2007. MDPH, in collaboration with local public health officials, conducted an investigation, which implicated pasteurized, flavored and nonflavored, fluid milk produced by a local dairy (dairy A) as the source of the outbreak. This report summarizes the results of that investigation. In all, five cases were identified, and three deaths occurred. This outbreak illustrates the potential for contamination of fluid milk products after pasteurization and the difficulty in detecting outbreaks of L. monocytogenes infections.

Dairy A was a family owned and operated milk product pasteurizing, bottling, and processing facility located in central Massachusetts; the dairy had operated for nearly 50 years. Raw milk was transported by tanker truck to the dairy A processing facility from dairy A’s own farm (with nearly 300 cows) and from another, independent farm located 25 miles away. Dairy A produced various milk and nonmilk beverage products in glass and plastic bottles, including several varieties of flavored milk. Retail outlets were located at the dairy and the farm, but the bulk of the dairy’s milk products were sold under dairy A’s own name and other brand names through home delivery and at various retail establishments in Massachusetts. In addition, bulk cream was distributed to a bakery in Rhode Island, where it was used in cooked products.

Epidemiologic InvestigationContinue Reading Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated with Pasteurized Milk from a Local Dairy — Massachusetts, 2007

The first lawsuit stemming from a recent lettuce-borne E. coli outbreak was filed today in the Circuit Court for Ingham County, Michigan against Aunt Mid’s Produce. The petition was filed on behalf of Michigan State University (MSU) student and East Lansing resident Samantha Steffen.  In September 2008, at least 34 people were sickened by the…

As the Boulder County Health Department continues to count the ill linked to Jimmy Johns, more recalls of E. coli-tainted meat where announced overnight.  Possible Links?

Colorado Firm Recalls Frozen Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli

Colorado Foods Products, a Greenwood Village, Co., establishment, is recalling approximately 2,340 pounds of frozen beef trim that…

News outlets report that the toll of Chinese children ill from toxic milk formula may have nearly doubled since the Health Ministry’s last public count.  That number now may be over 94,000 children sickened.  Beijing is now struggling with the political, business and moral fallout from the adulteration of milk with the industrial chemical melamine.…

We received several calls today from sorority sisters who have been sickened by E. coli O157:H7 at the University of Colorado in Boulder.  Interestingly, the common denominator seems to be Jimmy John’s – just off campus.  Coincidentally, the first inspection since 7/28/06 occurred on 9/28/08 and the report was mailed to Mr. Prescott (the owner)…

I provided the 2008 HACCP Conference organizers with my presentation weeks ago, but since then we have seen, more raw milk, red meat and lettuce outbreaks.  We have also seen the China Melamine disaster and an E. coli O111 outbreak that sickened over 300 in Oklahoma.  It is hard to stay current.