Foodborne Disease

(CIDRAP News) – US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors at a slaughter plant in Texas neglected to test a cow for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) after the cow showed suspicious signs, the USDA said yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The incidence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections dropped 36% from 2002 to 2003, and long-term declines in the rates of several other common foodborne illnesses continued in 2003, the CDC reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration today released a long catalog of what it considers the nation's biodefense and public health preparedness gains over the last 3 years and promised more improvements to come.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday announced the opening of a new high-security food safety laboratory in Athens, Ga.

The $1.65 million lab is designated as biosafety level 3 (BSL-3), the second highest of four biological security ratings, the USDA said in a news release. It will be operated by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) yesterday launched a new Web site designed to make it easier for the public to find safety information about meat and poultry.

(CIDRAP News) – A Pennsylvania meat company recently became the first firm to meet US Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards for supplying irradiated ground beef for the federal school lunch program, the USDA confirmed this week.

Qualipaq Meats of Swoyersville, Pa., has met specifications that the USDA released in May 2003, according to Kathryn Mattingly, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) in Washington, DC.

(CIDRAP News) – An updated foodborne illness guide for physicans and nurses was written with an emphasis on "living in the post 9-11 environment," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in announcing the book's release today.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that recent regulations designed to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infectivity out of the food supply will cost the beef industry from $110 million to $149 million a year.

(CIDRAP News) – US officials this week proposed that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) be called on to help resolve the US trade dispute with Japan over bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). But Japan, to the chagrin of US officials, reportedly plans to reject the proposal.

(CIDRAP News) – The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging Bayer Corp. to comply with a proposed federal regulatory action and withdraw enrofloxacin (Baytril) from the market because of the concern that its use in poultry promotes drug-resistant bacteria.