May 2006

May 28, 2006
The Reporter (Vacaville, CA)
More than 1,300 inmates in 11 state prisons have been diagnosed since mid-May with a bacterial infection that causes flu-like symptoms.
Nearly three dozen of these are inmates at California Medical Facility in Vacaville.
The illness, caused by a bacteria called campylobacter, was first reported at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy on May 16, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Continue Reading Infectious outbreak at some facilities

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) —
The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed a bill that would allocate $1 million to the Food and Drug Administration`s Center for Veterinary Medicine for reviewing the safety of the drugs when used in animals, in light of the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance.Continue Reading Antibiotics used in animals that are important to human medicine could face increased scrutiny if legislation working its way through Congress gets passed.

May 24, 2006
LA Times
Jenifer Warren
SACRAMENTO — Nearly 1,300 inmates at nine California prisons have been stricken with gastroenteritis, according to corrections officials, who remain stumped by the source of the bacterial outbreak.
Some inmates have been hospitalized, but most have been treated in their cells for vomiting, fever, headaches, diarrhea and cramping caused by Campylobacter bacteria. A small number of staff members also have become ill.
The symptoms surfaced at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy, east of San Francisco, where 379 inmates have fallen ill since May 16. The contagious disease has since struck inmates at state prisons elsewhere in the San Joaquin Valley and also in Folsom, the Sierra foothills and Norco in Riverside County.Continue Reading Disease Has Sickened 1,300 State Prisoners

The Record
Published Tuesday, May 23, 2006
TRACY – The number of prison inmates with flulike symptoms continues to rise statewide, but no more inmates at Deuel Vocational Institution have become sick, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman said Monday.
At least 1,300 inmates at 10 prisons have fallen ill in the past…

May 20, 2006
The North Bay Nugget
POWASSAN — Customers of the Kwik-way Variety Store at 497 Main St. have been advised by health officials not to drink bagged milk purchased between May 13 and 18.
Dr. Catherine Whiting, medical officer of health, issued the localized food recall Friday afternoon.
“This precautionary recall is due to reported cases of illness which may be related to the consumption of milk products sold from this location,”
stated a North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit media release.Continue Reading Local health unit recalls milk: Illness reported from milk sold at Powassan store

The Stockton Record
May 20, 2006
TRACY – Bacteria, not the so-called “cruise ship virus,” is the culprit upsetting stomachs inside Tracy’s Deuel Vocational Institution, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman said Friday.
Campylobacter, a bacterium spread through contaminated food and water, has knocked 379 inmates at Deuel off their feet, said Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
County health and state prison officials had suspected the norovirus, which is known to cause cruise ship passengers gut-wrenching pain. That was ruled out at Deuel by Friday evening when test results determined the bacterium cause the widespread illness, Thornton said.Continue Reading Bacteria causing sickness at Deuel

Last Update: Tuesday, May 16, 2006. 11:19am (AEST)
A south-east South Australian environmental health officer has warned about a bacteria found on raw poultry and on animals, which he believes is on the increase.
Naracoorte Lucindale Council’s Dr Bob Netherton says the campylobacter bacteria commonly causes gastroenteritis, but can also cause other illnesses.
During a…

May 13, 2006
There are fresh calls for consumers to handle chicken properly following a new report which has found nearly all the raw meat sold over the counter carries campylobacter.
The bacteria is one of the most common causes of food poisoning.
Commissioned by the Food Safety Authority, the report indicates that more than 90% of the raw chicken we buy could be contaminated with campylobactor.
But we’re also at risk from other raw meats.Continue Reading Campylobacter found in most chickens

May 11, 2006
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Laura A. Bischoff
COLUMBUS — The debate about milk unpasteurized, straight from the cow reached state lawmakers Wednesday.
A bill pending in the House Agriculture Committee would allow licensed farmers to sell raw milk directly to consumers.
Bill advocates packed a Statehouse hearing room and sang the praises of raw milk.Continue Reading Panel hears pro, cons of raw milk

May 5, 2006
University of Arkansas, Food Safety Consortium via Newswise
Scientists who look for ways to eliminate foodborne pathogens are up against another obstacle: those pathogens that resist antibiotics. In particular, they want to single out the resistant bacteria for special attention and get rid of them.
That’s the focus occupying Ramakrishna Nannapaneni, a Food Safety Consortium researcher in the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture food science department working with Michael Johnson. His team is trying to quantify Campylobacter, a pathogen that contaminates nearly all retail raw broiler chicken carcasses, and its emerging ability to resist an important fluoroquinolone antibiotic known as ciprofloxacin.
Surveys have shown that broilers frequently carry large numbers of Campylobacter in their intestinal contents that spread during further processing onto retail raw products. Campylobacter also can occur in raw milk and water and on raw fruits and vegetables. Proper cooking recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will completely kill Campylobacter present on raw poultry.Continue Reading Zooming in on the Campylobacter that would resist antibiotics