Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/08/foodborne-disease-scan-aug-15-2014
Foodborne Disease Scan for Aug 15, 2014
Salmonella in England; Social media and foodborne disease
Filed Under:
Foodborne Disease; Salmonella
Salmonella Enteritidis clusters in England lead to national investigation
A national investigation is under way in England to look into a number of isolated clusters of Salmonella Enteritidis over the past few months that have been handled locally but that may represent a more widespread outbreak possibly related to catering outlets, says a press release today from Public Health England (PHE).
So far, 156 people have been infected?55 in Hampshire, 25 in London, 33 in Cheshire and Merseyside, and 43 in the West Midlands. Many of the cases in England have been linked with a Chinese restaurant and a Chinese takeout. Thirty-four cases at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in the West Midlands led to closure of eight wards.
Forty-nine cases have occurred in France and an unknown number in Austria as well, says the release.
All cases tested have shown infection with closely related strains of S Enteritidis, suggesting a single source of contamination. Food and environmental samples from some catering outlets have shown Salmonella organisms with the same genetic profile as in the cases.
PHE is working with the Food Standards Agency and with European public health organizations to investigate the outbreak.
Aug 15 PHE news release
Twitter complaints lead to inspection of 133 Chicago restaurants
Collaboration between public health professionals and the public via social media, as illustrated by recent experience in Chicago, might improve foodborne disease surveillance and response, according to an article in this week's Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
FoodBorne Chicago, a web site aimed at improved food safety in the city, tracked Twitter messages filtered through an algorithm to identify those relating to specific instances of complaints related to foodborne illness.
A total of 2,241 "food poisoning" tweets were identified over a 10-month period. Staff responded to 270 tweets that described specific instances of possible foodborne disease, providing a link to report details of the incident through FoodBorne Chicago's complaint form. Complaints were lodged by 193 individuals (presumably many or most coming from those sending the tweets, but validation of this was not possible in all cases, say the authors), leading to inspection of 133 Chicago restaurants.
Twenty-one (15.8%) of the restaurants failed inspection and 33 (24.8%) passed but had serious or critical violations, say the authors.
Only 19 (9.8%) complaint forms mentioned seeking medical treatment for the illness in question. The authors note that the remainder of the 193 complaints would likely not have been included in normal surveillance or have prompted health department inspections, illustrating the potential for increased surveillance through use of social media.
Aug 15 MMWR article
Foodborne Disease Scan for Aug 15, 2014
Salmonella in England; Social media and foodborne disease
Filed Under:
Foodborne Disease; Salmonella
Salmonella Enteritidis clusters in England lead to national investigation
A national investigation is under way in England to look into a number of isolated clusters of Salmonella Enteritidis over the past few months that have been handled locally but that may represent a more widespread outbreak possibly related to catering outlets, says a press release today from Public Health England (PHE).
So far, 156 people have been infected?55 in Hampshire, 25 in London, 33 in Cheshire and Merseyside, and 43 in the West Midlands. Many of the cases in England have been linked with a Chinese restaurant and a Chinese takeout. Thirty-four cases at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in the West Midlands led to closure of eight wards.
Forty-nine cases have occurred in France and an unknown number in Austria as well, says the release.
All cases tested have shown infection with closely related strains of S Enteritidis, suggesting a single source of contamination. Food and environmental samples from some catering outlets have shown Salmonella organisms with the same genetic profile as in the cases.
PHE is working with the Food Standards Agency and with European public health organizations to investigate the outbreak.
Aug 15 PHE news release
Twitter complaints lead to inspection of 133 Chicago restaurants
Collaboration between public health professionals and the public via social media, as illustrated by recent experience in Chicago, might improve foodborne disease surveillance and response, according to an article in this week's Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
FoodBorne Chicago, a web site aimed at improved food safety in the city, tracked Twitter messages filtered through an algorithm to identify those relating to specific instances of complaints related to foodborne illness.
A total of 2,241 "food poisoning" tweets were identified over a 10-month period. Staff responded to 270 tweets that described specific instances of possible foodborne disease, providing a link to report details of the incident through FoodBorne Chicago's complaint form. Complaints were lodged by 193 individuals (presumably many or most coming from those sending the tweets, but validation of this was not possible in all cases, say the authors), leading to inspection of 133 Chicago restaurants.
Twenty-one (15.8%) of the restaurants failed inspection and 33 (24.8%) passed but had serious or critical violations, say the authors.
Only 19 (9.8%) complaint forms mentioned seeking medical treatment for the illness in question. The authors note that the remainder of the 193 complaints would likely not have been included in normal surveillance or have prompted health department inspections, illustrating the potential for increased surveillance through use of social media.
Aug 15 MMWR article