This is another it what will be a long – too long – series of outbreak investigations where we have represented consumers in what I hope will be a cautionary tale, and a learning experience, for manufacturers of food.
On January 3, 2011, the Oregon Health Authority issued a News Release warning consumers of a
I travel a lot. Honestly (knock on wood), I have never been sickened by the food I have eaten on a plane. But the following case reminds me how easily it could happen.
In September, 2004, health agencies from many U.S. states, as well as international health agencies, began reporting persons ill with Shigella sonnei
The first Shigella illness involving a guest of the Doubletree Hotel was reported to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) on September 9, 2003. Interviews with other persons confirmed that multiple people had been ill during or following their stay at the hotel. On September 11, CDPHE notified the Foodborne and Diarrheal
I had just finished my part of the panel presentation entitled, “Why is food still making us sick in the 21st century,” when I was checking my Twitter feed and this popped up:
I’m a fan of @bmarler and his efforts to make food safer, but he is wrong that 1983 McDonald’s outbreak wasn’t covered.
The CDC reports a total of 22 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium from 6 states.
The number of ill persons identified in each state was as follows: Arizona (1), Illinois (2), Iowa (1), Michigan (9), Pennsylvania (1), and Wisconsin (8).
50% of ill persons were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported.
On August 22, 2000, Marion County Health investigators contacted the Oregon Health Department to report that a number of County residents were suffering from E. coli O157:H7. Three days later Wendy’s International, Inc voluntarily closed its Salem restaurant. The findings by the Marion County Health Department made the link to this Wendy’s restaurant clear:
The
According to Food Safety News, the number confirmed ill in an E. coli outbreak linked to a Seattle Ethiopian restaurant has risen to three. The health agency forced the closure of Ambassel Ethiopian Cuisine & Bar on March 6 after connecting the establishment to an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, along with finding a variety of
In late July of 1999, Ohio public health officials began receiving reports that patients at local hospitals in Cincinnati were suffering from E. coli O157:H7 infections. By August 2, 1999, fifteen cases had been confirmed, and through investigative interviews the Ohio Department of Health learned that eleven of those fifteen people had eaten foods purchased
Ambassel, an Ethiopian restaurant in Seattle on Jefferson and Twelfth, has been shut down by the Seattle King County Department of Health for these violations:
• Foods not protected from cross-contamination
• Poor personal hygiene practices: insufficient handwashing
• Equipment not properly sanitized
• Handwashing facilities not working
• Imminent health hazard: establishment
In early May 2009, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) identified a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 infections. See Email re: Cuyahoga County E. coli, PulseNet Cluster 0905HE…, Attachment No. 1. Bacterial isolates obtained from the stool cultures of three case-patients were a two-enzyme genetic match using pulse-field gel electrophoreses (PFGE). See May 26, 2009
