Campylobacter Blog - Surveillance & analysis on Campylobacter news & outbreaks

Marler Clark, Food Poisoning Attorneys

Marler Clark is the nation's foremost law firm with a practice dedicated to representing victims of food poisoning.

Since 1993, Marler Clark's lawyers have represented thousands of clients in litigation against restaurants and food companies whose food was traced as the source of illness. The Marler Clark food poisoning lawyers have brought claims on behalf of individuals sickened as part of outbreaks - cases involving multiple people sickened by a common source - and individuals whose illnesses were considered "isolated," yet could be traced to a particular food source.

Centers for Disease Control: Frequently Asked Questions about Campylobacter jejuni

Answers questions such as: How common is Campylobacter? What sort of germ is Campylobacter? How is the infection diagnosed? How does food or water get contaminated with Campylobacter? What can be done to prevent the infection? What are public health agencies doing to prevent or control campylobacteriosis?

The "Bad Bug" Book: Campylobacter jejuni

This online handbook provides basic facts about Campylobacter jejuni, and brings together in one place information from the FDA, CDC, National Institutes of Health, and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. IT IS AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE THAT WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Kids Health for Parents: Campylobacter Infections

Offers general information on Campylobacter infections, its signs and symptoms as well as information on how to identify if a child is suffering from foodborne illness.

The Virtual Museum of Bacteria

Provides pictures of campylobacter bacteria, and links to other photo sources, fact sheets, lectures, and scientific sites about campylobacter jejuni.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Campylobacter information

Fact sheet on Campylobacter infection, including symptoms, risks, and what producers are doing to try to protect consumers.

S.T.O.P - Safe Tables Our Priority

S.T.O.P. -- Safe Tables Our Priority is a non-profit grassroots organization devoted to victim assistance, public education, and policy advocacy for safe food and public health. The organization was founded in 1993 by family and friends of people who became ill or died from exposure to E. coli O157:H7 and other pathogenic bacteria in meat and poultry. S.T.O.P.'s mission is to prevent unnecessary illness and loss of life from foodborne contamination. This is an excellent informational site, but also a critical resource for people whose lives have been affected by this deadly bacterium.

The Medical Reporter

In our travels on the Web, we have had an opportunity to look at a LOT of sites about medical care and health, and this is one of the best. The Medical Reporter is an independent, educational, non-profit health magazine for enlightened healthcare consumers. Published solely in cyperspace since April of 1995, The Medical Reporter emphasizes preventive medicine, primary care, patient advocacy, education and support of interest to men and women alike. Please check it out and tell us what you think.


The Journal Watch Infectious Diseases

Edited and reviewed by more than 80 physicians, JWatch regularly combs 180 medical journals for important findings in infectious diseases.


National Institutes of Health Main Homepage

The National Institutes of Health web site is huge, with links to countless other sites, all having to do with (you guessed it) HEALTH. In particular, the sections having to do with HEALTH INFORMATION and SCIENTIFIC RESOURCES are both impressively vast, and typically quite helpful. You can do no-cost MedLine searches here as well, and link to on-line catalogs, journals, and learn about ongoing research projects. You could spend hours surfing this site, and learn tons.

Foodborne Illness: What Consumers Need to Know

Part of a website designed to provide health and safety information for HIV-positive individuals, and persons living with AIDS, this web-page provide simple, yet important, information about foodborne illnesses and how best to avoid them.

National Center for Food Safety and Technology

The NCFST is a consortium organized to address the complex issues raised by emerging food technologies. It includes academia, industry, and the government to combine resources and encourage cooperative efforts to ensure the continued food safety and quality of the nation's food supply. This is not necessarily the prettiest site around, but it contains a good amount of helpful information, especially about available educational programs.

The Food Safety Network

The Food Safety Network (FSN), housed at the University of Guelph, provides research, commentary, policy evaluation and public information on food safety issues, from farm-to-fork. In addition to four daily listserves, FSN offers consumer, student and industry outreach services, information research, on-line resources, collaborative projects, evaluation and analysis, and a capacity to address current and emerging food safety concerns.

Raw milk has been the source of numerous outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and other outbreaks in recent years. Although advocates of drinking raw milk believe there are health benefits, the risks certainly outweigh them. An article from the Baxter Bulletin today highlights the debate over the purported benefits of raw milk versus the safety of our food supply and the duties of public health officials who must work to prevent outbreaks of Campylobacter and other foodborne illnesses: Advocates of raw milk are behind legislative efforts in Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky and Nebraska to legalize selling raw milk. Moves to introduce legislation have begun in North Carolina and Maryland.

13 August 2006
By RACHEL GRUNWELL

Paul White was paralysed by poorly cooked lamb shanks. At one stage the Auckland engineer couldn't breathe unassisted or even blink. His eyes had to be taped shut at night so he could sleep.

This is the frightening world of an extreme case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which can leave people unable to move.

There is no single cause of GBS, but it can develop a week or two after a throat or intestinal infection. Campylobacter is one recognised cause.

A recent Otago University study showed New Zealand rates of campylobacter poisoning have nearly trebled in the past 15 years to be the highest in the world. Reported cases totalled 1425 in May alone.

Campylobacter is a bacterium that causes stomach cramps, fever and diarrhoea for up to a week.

Updated 8/6/2006
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

John Langlois feels so strongly about the benefits of unpasteurized goat milk that he pays $19 a gallon to have it shipped from a South Carolina dairy to his home in Estillfork, Ala. He credits it with giving him more energy, curing his grandson's chronic diarrhea when he was an infant and keeping the boy "steady" rather than "bouncing off the walls" now that he's 5.

Elizabeth Benner of Rochester, N.Y., drives 45 minutes each way to a dairy to get a week's worth of raw cow's milk for nine families in the milk club she organized. She says she was "really struggling" on a low-fat, vegan diet but regained her strength when she added whole raw milk and cream to her diet.

Christina Trecaso of Copley, Ohio, is in a herd share program. She and 150 other families pay boarding costs for "their" cows and take their profits in milk, butter and cream. For her, it's about "buying food that is minimally processed, food that is procured in a 100-mile radius. ... It's about relationships and shaking the hand that feeds you."

The Associated Press

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming Health Department officials have confirmed that fecal matter contaminated the water supply at an Albany County Bible camp where dozens of camp-goers have become sick.

According to the Health Department, lab tests have confirmed both viral and bacterial infections in about a dozen camp-goers, including nine cases of norovirus, six cases of Campylobacter jejuni, a bacterial infection; three people were found to have both.