BARFBLOG WEEKLY - JULY 20, 2017
Posted by Ben Chapman on 07/18/2017 from Barfblog
According to
multiple outlets, a Sterling VA, Chipotle restaurant has closed due to
what looks like a foodborne illness outbreak. Folks are speculating
that it might be norovirus. And by folks, I mean Chipotle.
Huffpo
reports,
After
voluntarily closing a restaurant in Sterling, Virginia, after multiple
customers reported falling ill, Chipotle said it plans to reopen
the burrito spot on Tuesday.
Eight
customers who ate at the location between July 14 and 15 filed
reports on the food safety crowdsourcing
website iwaspoisoned.com, indicating they suffered symptoms
like diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
According to
the reports, at least two customers have been
hospitalized.
“Norovirus
does not come from our food supply, and it is safe to eat at Chipotle,”
Jim Marsden, Chipotle’s executive director of food safety, said in
an emailed statement. “We plan to reopen the restaurant today.”
“We take every
report of illness seriously,” Marsden added. “In accordance with our
established protocols, our team is working to ensure the safety of
our customers and employees, including voluntarily closing the
restaurant yesterday to conduct a complete sanitization.”
Uh, Jim, noro can come from the food supply. Yours and others'. It has
even been linked to
lettuce distribution. It certainly sounds like this is
localized (like most noro is), but seems a bit early for certainty
statements like this. Oh, and noro can definitely be foodborne. Sure,
there's likely a lot of person-to-person transmission out there but a
couple of years ago my man
Aron Hal of CDCl (and colleagues) looked at foodborne
noro outbreaks in the U.S. They state that on average, 365 foodborne
norovirus outbreaks were reported annually, resulting in an estimated
10,324 illnesses, 1,247 health care provider visits, 156
hospitalizations, and 1 death.
Safe is a promise.
From Business
insider,
Here are some
of the reports from iwaspoisoned.com related to the Sterling
restaurant. All the reports were made from Sunday to Monday:
• Friday 7/14:
Daughter and friends went to Chipotle Saturday 7/15: stomach pains and
nausea started in morning Saturday 7/15: violently sick, puking,
diarrhea, severe pain, overnight into Sunday. Friends ill as well with
one friend also in ER. Sunday 7/16: Hospital visit for
dehydration, nausea, pain Monday 7/17: severe pain, trauma pain This is
the worst that I have ever seen. Severe food borne illnesses can
cause long-term damage to the gastro-intestinal track. This was BAD!
• I ate a
chicken bowl at 6ish and the rest at 11 pm Friday and then woke up
Sunday morning with diarrhea and was nauseous
• Wife and I
ate chicken bowls Friday night. Puking brains out Saturday night and
Sunday.
• Ate salad
bowl on Friday at 1230pm, became ill at 3pm on Saturday. Three up
multiple times, had fever, dizziness, etc. Salad bowl with
chicken, Pico, beans, medium salsa, corn
• My husband
and I both had chicken around 7:00 on Friday, July 14th. Over 24 hours
later, we both started vomiting. We are still experiencing
symptoms as of Monday morning.
Chicken bowl -
around 6 pm on 7.15.2017
• My husband
and I shared a burrito bowl last night for dinner around 6:30 PM. It
had rice, chicken, corn, pico, sour cream, cheese, medium salsa.
At around midnight my husband woke up vomiting violently. Less than an
hour later I began vomiting as well. We have since continued
vomiting in addition to having diarrhea, stomach pains, dizziness upon
standing, and low grade fevers. Chipotle was the only thing we
both ate yesterday.
• My Son and I
both had burrito bowls and became violently ill within hours of each
other. He was visiting from college. Chipotle was the only food
item we both ate that day. Violent stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting.
Violently ill. Same exact symptoms Burrito bowl. Steak, rice,
green peppers and onions, guacamole, cheese. Violently ill.
Full disclosure, I've been collaborating with the iwaspoisoned.com guy,
Patrick Quade over the past couple of years through NoroCORE.
Shares
plummeted more than 5 percent after the illnesses were reported.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/19/2017 from Barfblog
I played
hockey today, had an early evening nap – my partner is a saint – and
then stayed up late so I could be on news radio in San Francisco at
6:20 a.m. their time -- KCBS All
News 740 and FM 106.9 -- trashing Chipotle.
I said I wrote a book 20 years ago – Mad Cows and Mother’s Milk – that
concluded no risk messages were really risky.
Yet here’s Chipotle, with their chief-science thingy, saying “Norovirus
does not come from our food supply.”
As
Chapman noted yesterday, there is on average one
outbreak of food-related norovirus every day for all 365 days of the
year in the U.S.
And rather than provide supporting statements for their claim, Chipotle
took to Twitter to proclaim such insights as, “Why be full of
potential when you could be full of burritos?” and “Summertime sadness
is when you forget your guac.”
Al Gore had only just invented the Internet for everyone else when Mad
Cows and Mother’s Milk was written.
Today, consumers demand data-based assurances, not platitudes.
I miss Phil Hartman (also born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada).
This scene from News Radio reminds me of when Chapman visited Kansas
and shit for a couple of days because he had Campylobacter.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/19/2017 from Barfblog
Two siblings,
Kade and Kallan Maresh from Maple Lake, Minnesota, were stricken with
E. coli O157, possibly after visiting a petting zoo.
The family’s
Caring Bridge site broke the sad news on Sunday when it reported that
Kallan lost her battle with the deadly strain.
Bill
Hudson of CBS Minnesota reports she died one week after
shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157 raced through
her young body.
“It’s very
serious, potentially fatal,” says George Canas, M.D., with Kidney
Specialists of Minnesota.’
The
state Health Department is investigating where the E. coli
exposure was. Possibly, something as simple as a trip to a petting zoo
and transferring the bacteria onto the child’s hands and their mouth.
It’s also common to acquire an exposure by eating unsanitary meat,
produce or dairy.
The severe
case eventually claimed Kallan’s life just a week after she was rushed
to Masonic Children’s Hospital. Fortunately, her older brother, Kade,
continues his fight, although his situation remains extremely serious.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/17/2017 from Barfblog
It is
painfully rewarding that the bureautards in Western Australia are
finally catching up to what we’ve been saying for years.
Australia has an egg problem.
A table of Australian egg outbreaks is available at http://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia-5-1-17.xlsx.
The West
Australian reports
the area is experiencing an explosion in stomach bug illnesses, with
more than 4,000 cases so far this year and many of them caused by food.
New
figures show 4076 cases of gastrointestinal disease have been reported
this year — 31 per cent more than at the same time in the previous two
years. The bacterial or viral infections are mostly caused by
contaminated food and water or poor hygiene. Much of the surge has been
fuelled by a rise in salmonella, with many of the 1566 cases this year
associated with eating uncooked eggs.
There has been
a big increase in other gastroenteric illnesses, with 358 cases of the
viral infection rotavirus, which can make young children seriously ill.
Cryptosporidiosis,
which is caused by a parasite, has been reported in 335 people — more
than double the number at the same time last year. A WA Health
Department spokeswoman said though notifications of salmonella gastroenteritis
were declining as expected over winter, the increased levels were a
concern.
“The
department is concerned about food-borne illness rates in WA, including
salmonella risks associated with eggs, and is implementing short and
long-term reduction strategies,” she said. The department and local
government authorities were focusing on safety surveillance across the
food industry, from paddock to plate.
“Eggs are a
good source of nutrition, but like many other foods they can be
contaminated with bacteria, including salmonella,” the spokeswoman
said.
“It is
important people handle and prepare eggs safely to reduce the food
poisoning risk.”
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/19/2017 from Barfblog
A mother from Queensland has shared the heartbreaking
moment she was told she'd contracted Listeria and passed it to her
unborn baby.
Jeanya Rush,
20, from Brisbane, was six months pregnant with her second child - a
baby boy - when she started to experience 'excruciating headaches and
high fevers'.
The young mum
told Katherine
Davison of the Daily Mail Australia that she later
discovered she had contracted Listeria - from either a pre-cut fruit
salad, cream cheese or an ice-cream she had eaten - and had passed the
foodborne illness on to her baby boy, who she and her partner Levi had
named Zephaniah.
Doctors told
her the infection had left her son 'severely disabled' and she and Levi
faced the agonising decision whether to let him go.
'I had tested
positive for Listeria. It had infected my uterus and also reached
Zephaniah's brain,' Ms Rush wrote in a heartrending Facebook post.
'He [the
doctor] told us that Zephaniah could not live without the machines that
aid him and if he were to survive he would be severely disabled for the
rest of his life.
'He would show
no emotion or understanding he would be basically be in a comatose
state. And worst of all, it was our choice whether or not to let him
go. Levi and I were broken. Nothing could ever describe the pain we
felt in that moment.'
Ms Rush said
it was the hardest decision they had ever had to make.
'It took a
long time to decide. As Zephaniah stayed on life support, we were by
his side and it made everything that much harder,' she wrote.
'But we both
knew what we had to do and eventually Levi and I came to a decision and
it was the hardest one we have ever had to make. We chose to let
Zephaniah go and relieve him of his pain and suffering.'
Ms Rush had
tested positive for listeria - leading their baby to be severely
disabled - and the young couple made the devastating decision to let
him go.
'The midwives
and doctors arranged everything. We had our loved ones come in to
say good bye to our boy, Zephaniah was blessed by the Elders of Levi's
church, and it was one very long emotional day preparing to send our
boy off,' Ms Rush wrote.
'When the time
came, Levi and I were taken to a private room with Zephaniah,
accompanied by 2 lovely midwives.
'They took out
his breathing tubes and we held Zephaniah for approximately an hour
until his final breath.
'When he
turned cold in my arms it felt as if my heart had been ripped out of my
chest.
'We held him
for a little while longer before the midwives took him away. We
returned to our room and sat in silence. I will never forget the pure
pain of that moment.'
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/19/2017 from Barfblog
A foodborne illness outbreak linked
to raw oysters has sickened at least 25 people who dined
at local restaurants recently, King County reported on Tuesday. The
news comes after the county reported last week that a handful of people
got sick eating raw oysters at two Seattle restaurants - The Salted Sea
and The White Swan Public House.
The
restaurants, however, are not the source of the outbreak, King County
says. Most likely, the oysters were mishandled or contaminated before
reaching local restaurants, although no specific local oyster beds have
been connected to the outbreak.
County health
officials believe diners have been sickened by Vibrio, a marine
bacteria commonly found in oysters.
"Eating
undercooked or raw shellfish, especially raw oysters in warm-weather
months, is the main risk for acquiring vibriosis from infection with
Vibrio parahaemolyticus," King County said.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/19/2017 from Barfblog
The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an atypical
case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), a neurologic disease of
cattle, in an eleven-year old cow in Alabama. This animal never
entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food
supply, or to human health in the United States.
USDA Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) National Veterinary
Services Laboratories (NVSL) have determined that this cow was positive
for atypical (L-type) BSE. The animal was showing clinical signs
and was found through routine surveillance at an Alabama livestock
market.
BSE is the
form that occurred primarily in the United Kingdom, beginning in the
late 1980’s, and it has been linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (vCJD) in people. The primary source of infection for
classical BSE is feed contaminated with the infectious prion agent,
such as meat-and-bone meal containing protein derived from rendered
infected cattle. Regulations from the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) have prohibited the inclusion of mammalian protein in feed for
cattle and other ruminants since 1997 and have also prohibited
high-risk tissue materials in all animal feed since 2009.
Atypical BSE
is different, and it generally occurs in older cattle, usually 8 years
of age or greater. It seems to arise rarely and spontaneously in all
cattle populations.
This is the
nation’s 5th detection of BSE. Of the four previous U.S.
cases, the first was a case of classical BSE that was imported from
Canada; the rest have been atypical (H- or L-type) BSE.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/16/2017 from Barfblog
Lloyd
Mudiwa of the Irish Medical Times reports a large outbreak of
foodborne salmonellosis involving more than 50 cases of infection in North
Dublin is being investigated by public health specialists, IMT reports.
The HSE was
initially notified on May 18 of an outbreak of salmonellosis associated
with consumption of food at a family party in Dublin some five days
earlier. Foods had been provided by a food business in North Dublin.
Over the weekend of May 13 and 14 the business had supplied food to
multiple off-site parties in addition to on-site dining. The
investigation identified illness among attendees at additional off-site
parties.
An Outbreak
Control Team was convened and chaired by the Department of Public
Health (East) with representation from Environmental Health Service
((EHS) Dublin Specialist (Communicable Disease Unit) and Dublin,
Fingal), the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), Health Protection
Surveillance Centre (HPSC), Public Health Laboratory, and the National
Salmonella Shigella and Listeria Reference Laboratory.
A closure
order was served on the food business on May 19 by the HSE EHS under
Section 53 of the FSAI Act 1998. Alerts were issued to GPs and hospital
emergency departments by the Department of Public Health (East).
“To date more
than 50 cases of illness have been identified and 24 persons have
tested positive for salmonella. Six people have been admitted to
hospital.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/16/2017 from Barfblog
We report a case of chronic infection caused by
Salmonella and cured by a laparoscopic cholecystectomy after Roux-en-Y
gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery for obesity. This patient presented with
a 2-year history of chronic abdominal pain, loose stools and excessive
weight loss. Her stool and urine cultures were positive for Salmonella.
Despite multiple courses of antibiotics, she remained positive.
After
undergoing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the patient became
asymptomatic and stools remained negative. In chronic carriers for
Salmonella, the gall bladder is the common reservoir for the bacteria
and removing it is usually curative.
The
possibility that the source of the may be in the biliary limb of her
bariatric procedure and not in the gall bladder remained a concern.
In patients
who have had a RYGB, cholecystectomy is an effective treatment.
All patients
presenting with abdominal symptoms following RYGB should have stool and
urine cultures taken as part of their work up.
A case of a
chronic slamonella infection following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
surgery, treated successfully by a laparoscopic cholecystectomy
MBJ Case
Reports, 2017, Zohaib
Siddiqui, Zain
Ahmed Siddiqui, Fahd
Husain, Midhat
Siddiqui, doi:10.1136/bcr-2017-219395
http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2017/bcr-2017-219395.short?rss=1
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/16/2017 from Barfblog
Toma
Istomina of the KyivPost writes an outbreak of cases of
Salmonella infections in Kyiv has revealed a rash of sanitary
violations in the city’s restaurants.
Police have
started criminal proceedings against Eurasia, a popular chain of sushi
restaurants in Kyiv, after 39 people came down with Salmonella
poisoning after eating in two of its restaurants. An investigation
found that one of the cooks had spread the bacteria.
Further
inspections by Ukraine’s food safety authorities uncovered numerous
sanitary violations in at least 79 other restaurants in Kyiv.
However,
legislation that was in effect until June 30 prevented the authorities
from immediately issuing fines or shutting down the offenders – the law
had stipulated that such measures could be taken only after a scheduled
inspection, and not an unscheduled one.
The only
restaurants to be temporarily closed as of July 5 were the two Eurasia
sushi bars where customers were infected by the bacteria – on 2A
Dmytrivska St. and 20 Stepan Bandera St.
The first
cases of salmonellosis infection were reported on June 27, when 34
people sought treatment for the symptoms of Salmonella poisoning –
diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. All had eaten in the
two Eurasia restaurants, and five more people reported infection within
the following week.
Most of the
infected customers were hospitalized. The State Service of Ukraine on
Food Safety and Consumer Protection launched an inspection of the
entire Eurasia chain.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/15/2017 from Barfblog
This case of cyclospora
may have no relation to the Canadian outbreak; or may.
A 64-year-old
French [female] with type 2 diabetes mellitus was referred to our
department on [Mon 3 Jul 2017] because she was suffering from
protracted diarrhea.
Symptoms began
on [Sat 10 Jun 2017] as she was just returning from a touristic trip in
Cancun (Quintana Roo State, Mexico) where she stayed from [Mon 29 May
to Fri 9 Jun 2017] with her husband.
She
acknowledged having moderate watery diarrhea with abdominal discomfort,
bloating, transient vomiting, 5 kg weight [approx. 11.02 pounds] loss
and fatigue. Empiric therapy with oral Metronidazole 500 mg 3 times a
day for 7 days she received previously failed to improve her symptoms.
Of note, a 1st microscopic stool examination failed to identify
parasites and no enteropathogenic bacteria was found by culture on
selective media.
Up to 3 extra
stool specimens where sent to the laboratory of clinical parasitology
in our hospital.
Oocysts of
Cyclospora cayetanensis where evidenced by autofluorescence after
Bailenger concentration technique.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/19/2017 from Barfblog
There’s some
weird things in food.
A family
gathering in Quebec to celebrate the arrival of a new
baby boy suddenly turned sour this weekend when someone discovered
a piece of a catheter inside the ice cream the family was eating.
Three people
had already started eating the Coaticook brand ice cream flavoured with
pecan nuts, chocolate and double caramel when one of the guests
– the new grandfather of the family – felt something hard in
his mouth.
He spit it out
and saw it was a piece of a catheter.
There was
something dark on the tip and the family couldn't tell if it was
caramel or blood.
"He put
it in his mouth and found the tip of syringe," Carole-Anne
Christofferson told Radio-Canada.
"He's the
worst off, the most affected. He's not even able to speak about
it."
Coaticook said
it will be conducting an internal investigation into what happened.
Representatives
for the ice cream producer say it's the first time the company receives
a complaint like this.
Based on the
product's lot number, they know the exact date the ice cream was made
and are checking surveillance video.
The company
maintains it is safe to consume its products.
"We have
so many internal controls here and in food production in general, that
having something like that show up in a food item, it's not
normal," said Jean Provencher, the owner of Coaticook.
Yeah, but it apparently did: try empathy.
In
Australia, two children have been pricked by a hidden
syringe in separate incidents at Coles supermarket in Melbourne's
north-west, which is being described by police as
"malicious."
The first
incident happened at the supermarket on Pascoe Vale Road,
Broadmeadows, on Monday at 1:30pm, when a child was pricked by a needle
hidden under a rail.
Another child
was pricked about an hour later, and the needle was then discovered by
the mother.
A spokesperson
for Coles said the supermarket was working with police to investigate
the incident.
"Our
thoughts are with the customers affected by this event and their
families," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/17/2017 from Barfblog
CTV News
reports the
pastries in the window of a downtown Toronto confection shop were
supposed to lure hungry humans, but they ended up attracting mice.
Mohammad
Valipour captured the ravenous rodents on video as they nibbled on a
tray of baklava visible through a window inside Meli Baklava &
Chocolate Bar.
He told CTV
Toronto he believes he could also see feces around the trays. “It was
disgusting,” Valipour said.
Co-owner Julie
Kyriakaki says the building has a rodent problem but is adamant that
none of the pastries that sit out for display are served to the public.
Kyriakaki
showed off drawers full of desserts under the countertop that she says
she and her staff use to keep the food safe from pests.
“Even if I
didn’t have food here, the mice could still be on the window, because
they go everywhere” she said. She also showed off mousetraps inside the
store.
Meli Baklava
& Chocolate Bar displays a green DineSafe sign in its window,
indicating that it has met food safety standards outlined in the
Ontario Food Premises Regulation and municipal by-laws. The sign shows
the business was last inspected on Feb. 6, 2017.
The bakery has
passed four inspections, the first in November 2015, according to online
DineSafe records. It received two infractions in
that time, one for failing to ensure the presence of someone who holds
a valid food handler’s certificate and another for not having a test
substance for ensuring utensils are properly sterilized.
The sweet
shop, which is rated 4.5 out of five on the website TripAdvisor, is one
of several food kiosks housed inside the Queen Live Fresh Food Market
on Queen Street West.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/16/2017 from Barfblog
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the profile of
foodservices' in Curitiba, in southern Brazil and the results of health
inspections performed at these establishments, with the goal of
contributing to improvements in sanitary inspection processes and to
the sanitary conditions in foodservices.
The study was
based on data from sanitary inspections conducted at foodservice
establishments from January 2005 to July 2015 found in the Municipal
Sanitary Inspection and Environmental Information System.
Most of the
establishments inspected were restaurants and similar establishments:
snack bars, cafes; as well as grocery store, supermarkets and
hypermarkets, and most irregularities were found in these sectors.
Health
inspections in the city are carried out in emergency criteria, and most
performed at the request of foodservices that are quest a license or
because of a customer complaint. Inspections led to more educational
than punitive measures. Even 10 years after passage of a national law
governing food handling procedures, when 70% of the foodservices
presented improper sanitary conditions. The main irregularities found
were related to work procedures and processes, sanitary conditions, and
physical structure. These result reinforces the importance that
legislators and inspection teams reevaluate their goals, strategies and
work processes to prioritize food safety.
Practical
applications:
This study is
important because it offers a diagnosis and a discussion of
foodservices and evaluates actions of Sanitary Inspection Agency, to
assist in the development of tools and strategies to strengthen the
work of sanitary inspectors so that they can be recognized as agents of
transformation in public health.
A profile
of foodservices in Curitiba and a critical analysis of the results of
sanitary inspections at these establishments
Journal of
Food Safety
Patricia
Vitorio Olmedo, Lize Stangarlin-Fiori, et al.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfs.12377/full
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/14/2017 from Barfblog
I get it.
Burdened with never-ending bureaucracy, who wouldn't resign.
I did (KState said I resigned, but really, they fired my ass).
And followed a girl to Brisbane.
But the only thing wrong about my resignation was I never got any
severance from Kansas State University, and still cringe every time I
hear about the parachutes -- golden or not -- bureaucrats get upon
departure.
I was dumb about that.
I was also hopelessly naive about my belief that universities were
places of higher learning and that effort and achievement would be
honored.
Nope
Cody
Combs of WWMT reports
a former employee of a West Michigan county health department once in
charge of overseeing restaurant inspections is now coming under
criticism after the I-Team learned the employee was forced to resign.
This comes as
the Newschannel 3 I-Team uncovers how some say the restaurant inspector
neglected to keep up with inspections, potentially putting the safety
of many in and around West Michigan at risk.
The I-Team
started asking questions about the health inspections after portions of
a Van Buren/Cass District Health Department document were anonymously
sent to Newschannel 3.
"Inspect
the 40 restaurants which have not been inspected since 2015,"
reads the document.
That rate of
inspections falls far below state regulations, according to staffers at
several West Michigan county health departments.
The I-Team
then pored over Van Buren/Cass Health Department meeting minutes, and
found a brief mention during a meeting in March of a resignation from a
worker named Cary Hindley, now the former food service supervisor.
Over at the
Van Buren/Cass Health Department, we asked Director Jeff Elliott about
the inspections or lack thereof, and Elliott explained Hindley's
departure.
"He said,
you know what Jeff, all the regulations we have to follow and
everything, he said, I'm kind of tired after 28 years, here's my
resignation," Elliott said.
But Elliott
disagreed with the internal document saying 40 restaurants were last
inspected in 2015.
"I don't
think that's gospel," he said.
Elliott says
the files may need to be located.
Other
staffers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say finding the
documents, if they exist, may prove impossible.
At Wednesday's
Board of Health meeting, more concerns about the restaurant inspection
discrepancies were voiced from board members, as well as other county
health officials.
Posted by Ben Chapman on 07/13/2017 from Barfblog
Wow.
Salmonella in backyard flocks is no joke. CDC
reports that hundreds of people have become ill this
year in 10 outbreaks. Kissing chickens is a bad idea.
Since the last
update on June 1, 2017, 418 more ill people have been reported. The
most recent illness began on June 20, 2017.
This is a Salmonella factory
CDC, multiple
states, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) are investigating 10 separate
multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections in people who had contact
with live poultry in backyard flocks.
The outbreak
strains of Salmonella have infected a reported 790 people in 48 states
and the District of Columbia.Illnesses started on dates ranging from
January 4, 2017 to June 20, 2017.
Of 580 people
with available information, 174 ill people have been hospitalized. No
deaths have been reported.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/18/2017 from Barfblog
I survived 90
minutes of pickup hockey today, first time I've played goal in a year.
If the pavement is going to rise up and bash me on a bicycle, I might
as well let people shoot a hard rubber disk at me and get told by a
15-year-old that my technique sucks (paraphrased).
It ain't Guelph, I was the oldest on the ice, but it doesn't suck to go
to the arena in shorts year round, at noon.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/17/2017 from Barfblog
CBS
North Carolina reports
a person who “passed gas” on an American Airlines plane on Sunday
afternoon forced all passengers off the jet.
The incident
happened when passengers on the flight became ill with nausea and
headaches, according to a spokesperson with Raleigh-Durham
International Airport.
The flight,
which was not identified by RDU officials, landed at the airport around
4 p.m. when the incident was reported.
All the
passengers were taken off the plane and after the incident was
investigated it was determined that a passenger “passed gas,” the
official said.
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/14/2017 from Barfblog
Posted by Doug Powell on 07/14/2017 from Barfblog
Ann Hui
of The Globe and Mail reports that for decades, cattle
farmers have sent their livestock to graze on the sprawling Shamrock
pasture, about 80 kilometres south of Chaplin in southwest
Saskatchewan. Shamrock is where Russ Coward, a fourth-generation cattle
farmer, has for years raised nearly a quarter of his cattle. It’s the
same place Mr. Coward’s father sent his cattle.
But some time
between last Monday and Friday, the cows and calves at Shamrock began
to die. It’s not known whether the deaths happened all at once or
slowly over the course of the four days. But by the time the manager
arrived on Friday afternoon, 200 of the approximately 680 cattle in a
single field were dead.
The president
of Shamrock Grazing Ltd., Glenn Straub, called Mr. Coward, who raced
out to the field. He was met with a gruesome scene. “We seen a
tragedy,” he said. “We simply seen a terrible sight.”
Other ranchers
soon joined him, about 31 in total who have cows and calves there. “We
all had the same feelings – how did this happen? How did this happen?”
Since Friday,
provincial authorities as well as the local RCMP have been trying to
piece together the mystery. The cause is still being determined, but
the prevailing theory is dehydration and salt toxicity.
The area has
been subject to drought in recent weeks, said Saskatchewan’s chief
veterinary officer, Betty Althouse. Officials believe this may have led
to evaporation at the water source, resulting in higher concentrations
of salt in the water.
“An analogy
would be someone shipwrecked in the ocean,” Dr. Althouse told reporters
this week. “They’re thirsty, they’re craving water, so they’re going to
drink the water. But ultimately the salt water will kill them.”
Many of the
dead cows and calves were found clustered around one “dugout” in particular
– the pools of collected rain and runoff where they drink.
Investigators at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in
Saskatoon who were called in to assist have collected samples from the
dugouts. Results are expected some time this week.
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