Analysis - Shutdown Salmonella Outbreak Continues. CDC Food Safety Chief: ?We Have a Blind Spot.?

[sharon sanders]

Maryn interviews Dr. Chris Braden, director of the CDC’s division of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases.

My bolding.

Shutdown Salmonella Outbreak Continues. CDC Food Safety Chief: ‘We Have a Blind Spot.’

BY MARYN MCKENNA 10.10.136:02 PM


snip

I asked Braden to talk about that a bit more, and what he said next made my jaw drop. The data that the strains in this outbreak are multi-drug resistant was achieved before the shutdown occurred. The program that achieved it, the CDC’s portion of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, or NARMS, remains shut down. At the moment, the CDC cannot do any more resistance analysis related to this outbreak, or any other one:

"We were able to do that testing in NARMS before the furlough. We had four retail samples from Foster Farms chicken, and five human isolates from ill persons connected to this outbreak. We saw clinically relevant resistance in all four of the retail chicken samples and in four of the five human isolates. And that was done before the furlough."

more.....

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/shutdown-salmonella-2/

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Analysis - Shutdown Salmonella Outbreak Continues. CDC Food Safety Chief: ?We Have a Blind Spot.?

Also please see:

California Department of Public Health Reminds Consumers To Properly Handle and Cook Raw Poultry (October 10 2013)

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ISSUES INFORMATION REGARDING SALMONELLA OUTBREAK (October 10 2013)

FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Chicken Products Produced at Three Foster Farms Facilities (Missouri DoH, October 10 2013)

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Analysis - Shutdown Salmonella Outbreak Continues. CDC Food Safety Chief: ?We Have a Blind Spot.?

Foster Farms were linked to previous Salmonella outbreaks

Apparently Foster Farms are a continuing source of disease. No closedown? No recall?

July 2013

A total of 134 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg were reported from 13 states.

31% of ill persons were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported.
Most of the ill persons were reported from two states, Oregon (40) and Washington (57).

Collaborative investigative efforts of local, state, and federal public health and regulatory agencies indicated that Foster Farms brand chicken was the most likely source of this outbreak.

CDC

february 2013

Flutrackers/CIDRAP: Multistate Salmonella outbreak tied to chicken sickens people in 12 states

Feb 15, 2013 (CIDRAP News) ? The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday that it is investigating a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak simmering since last June that has sickened at least 124 people in 12 states.

Most of the infections have been in Oregon and Washington, and health officials in those two states said yesterday that many of the cases were tied to chicken processed by Foster Farms. The Washington State Department of Health (WSDH) said the outbreak is linked to the company's plants in Washington in California.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Analysis - Shutdown Salmonella Outbreak Continues. CDC Food Safety Chief: ?We Have a Blind Spot.?

FSIS Will Not Close Foster Farms Plants

BY LYDIA ZURAW | OCTOBER 11, 2013

The U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) stated Thursday evening that it will not close the Foster Farms processing plants in California linked to a nationwide Salmonella outbreak.

FSIS had threatened to ?withhold the marks of inspection? at the three California plants in Livingston and Fresno ? effectively shutting them down ? if the company had not presented corrective action plans by Thursday addressing its Salmonella control.

?Foster Farms has submitted and implemented immediate substantive changes to their slaughter and processing to allow for continued operations,? said USDA spokesman Aaron Lavallee on Thursday evening. ?FSIS inspectors will verify that these changes are being implemented in a continuous and ongoing basis. Additionally, the agency will continue intensified sampling for at least the next 90 days.?

The Salmonella outbreak has been linked to the three CA plants, but there is currently no official government recall in place because investigators have not yet tied it to specific products. Grocery store chain Kroger announced Tuesday that it had pulled Foster Farms chicken products from all of its 2,400 stores.

More: Food Safety News