Food Safety Scan for Apr 02, 2015

News brief

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.

The WHO's Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group's (FERG's) figures say that enteric disease cases from ingestion of contaminated food numbered 582 million in 2010. Twenty-two different diseases were responsible, with Salmonella Typhi infections causing the most deaths (52,000), followed by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (37,000) and norovirus (35,000).

Africa was the site of the highest disease burden, with Southeast Asia second. In the modern world, however, contaminated foods anywhere are of concern across the entire food supply chain, the authors said.

"A local food safety problem can rapidly become an international emergency," said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, MD, MPH, in a WHO news release. "Investigation of an outbreak of foodborne disease is vastly more complicated when a single plate or package of food contains ingredients from multiple countries."

In addition to the public health consequences of contaminated food, major economic effects can result. For example, a 2011 E coli outbreak in Germany caused $1.3 billion in losses to farmers and industry and $236 million in costs for emergency aid, says the WHO.

Coordinated international actions are needed to reign in foodborne disease, the WHO said. "Food safety is a cross-cutting issue and shared responsibility that requires participation of non-public health sectors . . . and support of major international and regional agencies and organizations active in the fields of food, emergency aid, and education," the agency said in the release.

April 7 is the WHO-sponsored World Health Day for this year. It is being dedicated to food safety and is being identified through the slogan, "From farm to plate, make food safe."
Apr 2 WHO news release

USDA awards universities $19 million for food safety projects

Almost $19 million in grants aimed at ensuring food safety and supply while preserving the competitiveness of US agriculture have been awarded to universities across the country for 36 projects, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Mar 31 in a news release.

Among the projects are seven that will focus on strategies to mitigate antimicrobial resistance, with these grants totaling more than $6.7 million, including over $2 million each to the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota. Other grant categories address improved processing technologies, identification of food safety needs, and improved food safety and food quality.

The grants were awarded by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, says the release.
Mar 31 USDA news release
Listing of individual projects

News Scan for Apr 02, 2015

News brief

US shigellosis cases resistant to ciprofloxacin increase dramatically

Shigellosis, until recently resistant to first-choice drug ciprofloxacin in only 2% of US cases, has been found resistant nearly 90% of the time in recent outbreaks, according to a study published online today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

The authors evaluated 243 cases of shigellosis that occurred from May 24, 2014, to Feb 28, 2015, in 32 states and Puerto Rico. Of these, 95 occurred in a homeless population in San Francisco. About half of the remaining cases were linked with international travel. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was present in 109 (87%) of 126 isolates tested.

In an accompanying news release, the CDC recommends that physicians consider and discuss with patients whether illness is severe enough to warrant antibiotic treatment. When antibiotics are deemed necessary, providers should determine antibiotic susceptibility through laboratory testing.

Travelers should take extra precautions to prevent the disease through such actions as eating and drinking only safe foods and beverages (eg, cooked, boiled, bottled), washing hands frequently, and following meticulous hygiene regimens when ill, the agency added.

Shigella sonnei causes about 500,000 cases of diarrhea each year in the United States, many of them mild, the CDC said. Antibiotics are often used in the latter cases to shorten the illness even though it would likely resolve without treatment, say the study authors.
Apr 3 MMWR study
Apr 2 CDC press release

Saudi Arabia reports its first April MERS case

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported a MERS-CoV infection in a man in Jeddah, the first case this month.

The man with MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) is a 51-year-old expatriate healthcare worker. He is listed in stable condition and had contact with a MERS patient.

The MOH also reported today that a 20-year-old male expatriate in Jeddah has recovered from the disease. He is not a health worker and had preexisting disease.

The new case brings the country's total to 974 MERS-CoV cases, including 422 deaths; in addition, 534 patients have recovered from their infections, and 18 patients remain hospitalized or in home isolation. The MOH confirmed 75 MERS cases in February and 53 in March.
Apr 2 MOH update