Campylobacter Blog - Surveillance & analysis on Campylobacter news & outbreaks

PharmaLive posted an update on the FDA's watch on the Menactra (Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine) and its connection to reports of Guillain Barre Syndrome. Although the article was about GBS as a result of vaccination, it is important to remember that Campylobacter jejuni and other gastrointestinal "bugs" can cause GBS in humans. From the article:

"Clinical data for other possible causes of GBS frequently were not available when investigating the 17 cases of GBS after MCV4 vaccination. Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of gastroenteritis and the most frequent antecedent pathogen in GBS cases (5). None of the patients had reported diarrheal prodromes; however, many C. jejuni infections are asymptomatic. Three of the 17 patients had stool cultures; one was tested for C. jejuni, and the results were negative. A serum sample from one of the patients was tested for C. jejuni, and the result was negative; no other serum samples were available for testing. None of the states where the patients resided reported outbreaks of C. jejuni during June 2005--September 2006."

Michigan is the latest state to crack down on farmers who produce and sell raw milk.  A Business Week article from today calls enforcement actions by Michigan health authorities "inappropriate," but does include a quote from the Michigan Department of Agriculture spokeswoman on why enforcement is necessary:

"We've had an investigation for several months now," says Katherine Fedder, director of the Michigan Agriculture Dept.'s food & dairy division. The investigation, she says, began with a report from a local public-health department last spring about children who had become sick who " had consumed unpasteurized milk." She noted, though, that the children's illness was never traced back to raw milk or any other specific food. In any event, a department inspector joined the co-op to purchase milk and expand the investigation.

"Our concern is that there's a violation of the Michigan law to distribute misbranded products and unpasteurized dairy products out of an MDA-licensed food establishment," Fedder says, adding that the investigation of the computers, records, and milk products confiscated will likely take "a few more weeks before we have a clarification."

Then, Hebron and/or the co-op could be charged with "a whole variety of things" under a Michigan food law and a dairy law.

Marilynn Marchione, medical writer for the Associated Press, wrote a recent article on the decline in fooodborne illnesses reported by CDC.  In the article, she points out that federal statistics show that foodborne illnesses are occurring at record-low rates, but

The trend could reverse in coming years if fruit and vegetable growers do not address problems like those that led to the spinach scare, Tauxe and others said."

"The meat and poultry industry has made great strides. The produce industry has a long way to go to catch up," said Michael Doyle, a microbiologist who heads the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety.

Compared with statistics from 1996-1998, CDC's FoodNet tracking system has reported a decrease in nearly every major foodborne illness.  Campylobacter infections are down 30 percent.  The bacterium, which along with Salmonella sickens the most people, usually is found in raw or undercooked poultry or eggs.