Food Outbreak Scan for Oct 19, 2015

News brief

Salmonella outbreak investigations tied to frozen chicken declared over

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Oct 16 released final reports on two separate Salmonella outbreaks linked to frozen chicken entrees.

The first Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak sickened 15 people, 4 of whom were hospitalized, in 7 states. Illness onset occurred from Apr 5 to Jul 27, and four Salmonella isolates tested were found to be resistant to the antibiotics ampicillin and tetracycline.

States affected included Connecticut (1 case), Illinois (2), Minnesota (8), New Hampshire (1), New York (1), Oklahoma (1), and Wisconsin (1). Six of the cases are new since the CDC's previous update on Jul 29.

Investigators identified the source of the outbreak as raw, frozen, stuffed chicken entrees produced by Barber Foods and sold under multiple brands, including Omaha Steaks. A Jul 12 expanded recall of approximately 1.7 pounds of frozen chicken entrees followed a Jul 2 recall of 58,320 pounds of frozen chicken Kiev entrees.

Though CDC said the outbreak is now over, it cautioned that affected products may still be in consumers' freezers and should not be eaten.
Oct 16 CDC Barber Foods update
Jul 30 CIDRAP News scan on previous update

The CDC also declared that a separate outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis due to raw, frozen, stuffed, breaded chicken entrees is now over. The outbreak, attributed to products distributed by Aspen Foods, is not related to the Barber Foods outbreak.

The outbreak sickened five people, two of whom were hospitalized, all in Minnesota. Illness onset occurred from May 9 to Jul 22, and all three isolates tested were susceptible to antibiotics.

Investigators determined that the source of the outbreak was raw, frozen, stuffed, breaded chicken entrees sold by Aspen Foods under multiple brand names, including Antioch Farms. On Oct 2, Aspen Foods expanded its Jul 15 recall of 1.9 million pounds of frozen chicken entrees to include an additional 561,000 pounds of chicken.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service cautioned that it cannot guarantee the safety of any Aspen Foods raw frozen chicken products produced between Jul 30 and Sep 17.

Though the outbreak is now over, the CDC said that affected products may still be in consumers' freezers and should not be eaten.
Oct 16 CDC Aspen Foods update
Jul 16 CIDRAP News scan on outbreak

USDA awards more than $2 million to new local food safety centers

Regional training and technical assistance centers in Florida and Oregon each received more than $1 million to create programs that would enhance food safety compliance among small farms and produce wholesalers, according to an Oct 14 USDA press release.

The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) distributed the grants as part of a collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration to create a national coordination center and four regional centers focused on food safety training. Funding aims to assist small and medium-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, and small produce wholesalers to become compliant with the Food Safety Modernization Act.

As part of the collaboration, NIFA's National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Grant Program funded two regional centers to provide food safety programs. The national coordinating center will be located at the International Food Protection Training Institute in Battle Creek, Mich.

The Southern Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Center to Enhance Produce Safety at the University of Florida in Gainesville received $1,197,751 to develop cross-sector partnerships and training programs aimed at strengthening the southern produce industry.

The Western Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Center to Enhance Food Safety at Oregon State University in Corvallis received $1,197,606 to provide training and outreach to small or disadvantaged farmers and wholesalers.

Training and outreach programs funded by NIFA will address food safety compliance issues faced by conventional and organic farmers and help small producers gain access into wider markets, the USDA said.
Oct 14 USDA press release

News Scan for Oct 19, 2015

News brief

Chikungunya outbreak in Americas grows by almost 2,500 cases

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Oct 16 reported 2,464 new cases of chikungunya in the Caribbean and Americas.

The new total includes 573,708 suspected and 23,875 confirmed local acquired cases and 875 imported cases reported in 2015, or 598,458 total for the year. The previous PAHO update included 3,409 new cases.

Colombia, which has reported some of the largest case numbers per week for the past several months, reported 1,972 new cases last week, bringing its 2015 outbreak total to 339,781. Colombia also reported one chikungunya-related death, bringing the country's fatality total this year to 56. The entire outbreak fatality total for 2015 is 63.

Mexico, which has experienced an uptick in chikungunya cases over the last several weeks, reported 361 new cases, bringing its outbreak total this year to 8,323.

The chikungunya epidemic began in December 2013 with the first locally acquired chikungunya case ever reported in the Americas, on St. Martin in the Caribbean. The epidemic total has now reached 1,745,227 cases.
Oct 16 PAHO update

Colombia reports first-ever cases of Zika virus infection

Colombian officials have confirmed nine cases of Zika virus infection, the first instances of the disease in the country, according to a post yesterday by Pro-Med Mail, an infectious disease news service provided by the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Health officials said the virus was imported to Cartagena by a traveler and spread from there. It is carried by Aedes aegypti, the same mosquito that transmits chikungunya and dengue.

"This is what happened with chikungunya; the Zika virus has come to stay in Colombia. This is a disease that was introduced from Easter Island and later into Brazil, as we came to know this past June [2015], when we stated that the arrival of this virus into the country was imminent," Colombia's vice minister of public health said.

Authorities have redoubled mosquito-control efforts, the post said.

In an Oct 16 epidemiologic update, PAHO confirmed the Colombian cases and said it "recommends that its Member States establish and maintain the capacity to detect and confirm cases of Zika virus infection, prepare their health services for a potential additional burden at all levels of health care, and implement an effective public communications strategy to reduce the mosquitoes that transmit this disease, particularly in areas where this vector is present.
Oct 18 Pro-Med Mail post
Oct 17 PAHO update

Measles cases, deaths continue rising in DRC

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is in the midst of a measles outbreak that has infected some 30,000 people this year and killed at least 428, according to news sources. Most cases involve children, and a third of all cases have been reported just since August,

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in August committed $2.4 million for vaccination programs in the region formerly known as Katanga province (it has recently been divided into four provinces), said an Oct 16 Reuters story.

"We have contained the disease somewhat in the short term. . . . But it's sad to see that the disease is still progressing," an OCHA spokesperson said.

Poor roads, remote villages, and a lack of healthcare personnel have posed difficulties for the vaccination campaigns, according to a Sep 1 story from Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), one of only two groups working there.

Other challenges, such as keeping a cold chain for transport of vaccine and the need for a booster shot a month after initial vaccination, have also contributed. The cost of vaccinating one child is about $1; mortality rates for measles in poor countries can run as high as 20%, MSF said.

The DRC's last serious measles outbreak was in 2011, when 77,000 people were infected and nearly 1,100 died in Katanga, which lies in the southeast and is the heart of copper and cobalt mining in the country.
Oct 16 Reuters story
Sep 1 MSF story