Warning on raw milk from Genoa farm

Posted by Campylobacter Lawyer on April 30, 2007
Residents of Cayuga County and surrounding counties are being warned not to drink or use unpasteurized raw milk sold from a Genoa farm because of possible bacteria contamination, according the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Raw milk sold by the Phil Stauderman Farm, 3128 Blakely Road, Genoa, may be contaminated with Campylobacter, a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, nausea, headache and muscle pain in children and young adult, according to a news release from the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The Stauderman farm has a department permit to legally sell raw milk at the farm, according to the news release.

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Food Poisoning--An Overview

Posted by Campylobacter Lawyer on April 26, 2007
What is Food Poisoning?

Food poisoning results when you eat food contaminated with bacteria or other pathogens such as parasites or viruses. Your symptoms may range from upset stomach to diarrhea, fever, vomiting, abdominal cramps and dehydration. Most such infections go undiagnosed and unreported.

But the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year about 76 million people in the United States become ill from pathogens in food, and about 5,000 of them die.

Over 55% of such cases are caused by improper cooking and storage of foods, and 24% by poor hygiene, such as not washing your hands while preparing food. Only 3% of cases are from unsafe food sources. Keeping your hands clean while working with food is the single most important thing you can do to prevent food poisoning.

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17,252 confirmed cases of food poisoning in 2006 in US

Posted by Bill Marler on April 22, 2007
The CDC today released its preliminary 2006 food-borne illness data from 10 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. A total of 17,252 confirmed cases (actual cases may be anywhere between 20 and 30 times the confirmed cases) of food-borne illness were reported in those states in 2006, according to the CDC. The most commonly reported illnesses were:

Salmonella: 6,655 cases

Campylobacter: 5,712 cases

Shigella: 2,736 cases

Cryptosporidium: 859 cases

E. coli O157: 590 cases

E. coli non-O157: 209 cases

Yersinia: 158 cases

Vibrio: 154 cases

Listeria: 138 cases

Cyclospora: 41 cases

Dysentery

Posted by Campylobacter Attorney on April 19, 2007
Many people have spent a tropical vacation with a bad stomach bug. They might have had dysentery, a painful intestinal infection that is usually caused by bacteria and rarely by parasites. Dysentery is defined as diarrhea in which there is blood and pus.

There are two main types of dysentery. The first type, amoebic dysentery or intestinal amebiasis, is caused by a single-celled, microscopic parasite living in the large bowel . The second type, bacilliary dysentery, is caused by invasive bacteria. Both kinds of dysentery occur mostly in hot countries. Poor hygiene and sanitation increase the risk of dysentery by spreading the protozoa or bacteria that cause it through food or water contaminated by infected human feces.

Causes
Bacterial infections are by far the most common causes of dysentery. These infections include Shigella, Campylobacter, E. coli, and Salmonella species of bacteria. The frequency of each pathogen varies considerably in different regions of the world. For example, shigellosis is most common in Latin America while Campylobacter is the dominant bacteria in Southeast Asia. Dysentery can have a number of causes. Dysentery is rarely caused by chemical irritants or by intestinal worms.
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Dairy suspends raw milk sales again after state warning

Posted by Campylobacter Lawyer on April 05, 2007
A York County dairy has suspended its raw milk sales for the second time in a month under the advice of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which warned that the milk might be linked to a case of gastrointestinal illness.

The state is advising people not to drink raw milk purchased from Stump Acres Dairy in New Salem since March 19. The dairy voluntarily suspended sales Tuesday, though the health department has not at this time established that any of the milk is contaminated with bacteria or otherwise unsafe.

"The results are still pending," said Larissa Bedrick, spokeswoman for the department of health.

The department also recommends a doctor visit for anyone who has become ill after consuming the dairy's raw milk.

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Consumer Watch: Chicken Broilers Serve Up Startling Concern

Posted by Campylobacter Lawyer on April 05, 2007
Here is a safety alert about chicken. Our partners at Consumer Reports ran extensive tests for bacteria and found 83 percent of the chicken tested harbored the kinds of bacteria that are the leading causes of food poisoning.

Leighton Kunkle has nerve damage in his hands and feet from Guillain-Barré syndrome, a side effect of food poisoning caused by the bacteria campylobacter. He believes he got sick from eating undercooked chicken in a restaurant.

"I spend the next few months in the hospital, in ICU, sitting there paralyzed from the neck down, had to learn how to walk again, eat again, talk again," said Kunkle.

The chicken that was tested nationwide was examined to see if it contained the bacteria campylobacter or salmonella, the two leading bacterial causes of food poisoning.

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