Salmonella outbreak tied to pork grows to 152 cases as recall expands
A salmonellosis outbreak tied to pork products grew by 18 cases, to 152, as a slaughterhouse in Washington state expanded a prior recall to more than 500,000 pounds of pork products and whole hogs after environmental sampling revealed insufficient sanitary conditions.
The new case numbers were posted in an update today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency said that 24 people have been hospitalized because of their illness, an increase of 8 cases since the CDC's previous update on Aug 14. Illness-onset dates range from Apr 25 to Aug 12.
Meanwhile, Kapowsin Meats in Graham, Wash., recalled 523,380 pounds of pork products that may be contaminated with the outbreak strain, Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:-, according to an update yesterday from the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Products affected by the expanded recall include bagged or boxed Whole Hogs for Barbecue and bagged or boxed fabricated pork products including various pork offal products, pork blood, and pork trim. The original recall, announced on Aug 13, involved about 116,000 pounds of pork products.
Recalled products have the mark "Est 1628" in the USDA seal of inspection. Pork products were shipped to Alaska, Oregon, and Washington and may still be in freezers. Consumers and establishments should throw away or return any pork affected by the recall.
FSIS found unsatisfactory sanitary conditions in the Kapowsin Meats facility after beginning environmental and pork sampling processes on Aug 13, and the slaughterhouse has voluntarily suspended operations.
Aug 28 CDC update
Aug 27 FSIS update
Case of 28-year poliovirus shedding reported in UK
A man living in the United Kingdom (UK) has been shedding highly evolved, vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) serotype 2 for 28 years, according to a case report yesterday in PLoS Pathogens.
Researchers at the UK National Institute for Biological Standards and Control analyzed more than 180 stool samples from the man from 1995 to this year. The man received a full course of childhood polio immunizations, including oral polio vaccine (OPV) administered in 1986, and was later diagnosed as having common variable immunodeficiency, which reduces the digestive tract's ability to kill viruses.
All stool samples were positive for a high titer of iVDPV (VDPV in an immunodeficient person) strains that had reverted to neurovirulent phenotypes capable of causing paralytic polio disease.
The initial samples gathered in 1995 showed iVDPV strains had undergone antigenic drift of 9.9% to 11.3% from the Sabin serotype 2 poliovirus included in the live-attenuated OPV. By March 2015, strains drifted 17.7% from the Sabin 2 poliovirus.
The iVDPV strains from the stool samples also contained a high proportion of nucleotide mutations that made them different from circulating VDPV type 2 strains and wild type 2 poliovirus. The samples did not show evidence of iVDPV derived from the Sabin types 1 or 3 poliovirus strains.
All iVDPV isolates were capable of causing paralytic disease in transgenic mice with human poliovirus receptors. Although investigators said that most sites on the iVDPV strains did not react with monoclonal antibodies, an antibody reaction occurred at antigenic site 3b on all strains, suggesting that antibody activity at this site could be enough to neutralize the iVDPV strains in humans.
The man represents the longest period of VDPV shedding currently known, and the only person identified as a chronic shedder of highly evolved VDPV, the authors said.
Aug 27 PLoS Pathog case report
Iowa reports H1N1v illness in person with swine contact
A person in Iowa was infected with a variant H1N1 influenza strain (H1N1v), the CDC reported today in its weekly FluView update.
The patient required hospitalization and reported close contact with swine in the week before he or she became ill. The agency said that no human-to-human transmission was associated with the case. No timetable or disease outcome was disclosed.
"Early identification and investigation of human infections with novel influenza A viruses are critical so that risk of infection can be more fully appreciated and appropriate public health measures can be taken," the agency said.
The case is the third confirmed H1N1v infection this year. The first was reported in January in Minnesota, and the second was reported in May in Ohio and proved fatal. After the CDC confirmed more than 300 cases of variant H3N2 (H3N2v) in the summer of 2012, the annual number of variant influenza cases has dropped dramatically.
Aug 28 CDC FluView report
Mumps outbreaks reported on two Midwestern campuses
Health officials at the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa have reported mumps outbreaks on campuses as students return for the fall semester, according to local news reports.
The University of Illinois has confirmed 101 cases of mumps, and ill students are still being tested, the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette reported on Aug 26. The university is offering free vaccination clinics for any students or staff who have not received two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen on Aug 14 reported that six students at the University of Iowa have been diagnosed as having mumps. The Johnson County Public Health Department confirmed the surge in mumps cases, saying that it has received 15 reports of mumps diagnoses in 2015, compared with no cases in 2014 and 1 case in 2013.
The University of Iowa Student Health and Wellness division issued a mumps health advisory to students on Aug 7. The advisory warns that the virus is highly contagious and can spread through saliva and mucus, also asking that students or staff with mumps symptoms such as swollen salivary glands and muscle aches remain home and ensure they have received both doses of the MMR vaccine.
Aug 26 Champaign-Urbana News Gazette story
Aug 14 Iowa City Press-Citizen report
Aug 7 University of Iowa health advisory
