Foodborne Disease

Canada reports multi-province E coli outbreak

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has detected 12 cases of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection in four provinces that might be linked to leafy greens, the agency said in a statement yesterday.

Experts outline path forward in dual-use research conundrum

Two biosecurity experts who have called for civil debate and mutual understanding surrounding dual-use research of concern (DURC) issues yesterday proposed a framework for moving forward.

New MERS case confirmed in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia today announced a new, severe MERS-CoV case in a 93-year-old man in Mecca after the country went 4 days without confirming a case.

The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) said the Saudi man is hospitalized in critical condition. He is not a health worker and had no recent contact with MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases.

New H3N2 virus implicated in Chicago canine flu outbreak

A canine influenza outbreak affecting dogs in Chicago and other Midwest locations is being fueled by a virus closely related to Asian H3N2 strains and not H3N8 as originally thought, researchers from Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin announced yesterday.

Study: Germany had low-level EV-D68 circulation in 2014

German researchers yesterday reported evidence that enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), which caused a widespread outbreak of respiratory illness in American children last fall, also circulated at low levels in Germany at about the same time.

Ebola infection reported in former Sierra Leone hot spot

A 9-month boy tested positive for Ebola after he died in Sierra Leone's Kailahun district, a former hot spot for the disease that had not seen a case over the past 4 months, Reuters reported today.

WHO: Foodborne disease sickens 582 million, kills 351,000

Nearly 600 million cases of foodborne enteric disease, with 351,000 deaths, occurred worldwide in 2010, 40% of them in young children, a World Health Organization (WHO) research group noted today as it released early findings of a broad analysis of the global burden of the diseases. The full report is planned for release in October.

Study: C diff type 027 predicts severe outcome

Infection with Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 independently predicts severe disease and mortality, but demographic and clinical factors are stronger predictors of severe disease, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Study: 2 antibiotics equally effective against MRSA skin infections

Two common antibiotics used for serious skin infections—clindamycin and trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) —both had about an 80% success rate in curing uncomplicated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infections, according to a study today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

CDC notes safety lapses at melioidosis-linked Tulane lab

Federal officials noted several biosafety lapses at a Tulane University animal lab after animals were infected with Burkholderia pseudomallei, the bacterium that causes melioidosis, or Whitmore's disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today.