Campylobacter Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Campylobacter Blog

DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
Jun. 02, 2006

SACRAMENTO - Spoiled milk was likely responsible for an outbreak of gastroenteritis that sickened more than 1,300 inmates and 14 employees at 11 state prisons last month, officials said Friday.

The inmates and employees had symptoms between May 16 and 26 that included fever, headaches, diarrhea, cramping and vomiting caused by campylobacter, a bacteria.

Investigators were never able to find the bacteria in food and milk samples, and they said milk processing equipment tested clean at the Deuel Vocational Institution farm in Tracy, which supplied milk to the 11 prisons.

But milk was "the only food item that had any significant connection" among the sick inmates, said Dr. Mark Starr of the California Department of Health Services. "It was quite a dramatic difference."

Those who consumed milk were 11 times more likely to have symptoms, he said.

The animal-borne bacteria is commonly spread to humans through meats or animal-contaminated milk or water.

Dr. Stephen Beam, chief of the milk and food safety branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, speculated that contaminated containers, packaging equipment or holding tanks may have been the problem, as the farm's pasteurization process and other procedures met health standards.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's acting secretary, James E. Tilton, said there was no evidence of human tampering. A few inmates were treated at prison infirmaries, but most were treated in their cells.

"The outbreak seems to be over," and the public was never affected, he said.

Dairy production was shut down for a few hours for inspection May 19, and 25,000 half-pint containers of milk produced May 8-18 were recalled and destroyed. Milk containers during that period had a higher bacteria count, Beam said, but the bacteria could not be identified.

The farm at Deuel produces about 6,000 gallons of raw milk each day. It is one of three prison dairies that employ about 300 inmates and supply milk to all but three of the state's prisons.

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DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - Spoiled milk was likely responsible for an outbreak of gastroenteritis that sickened more than 1,300 inmates and 14 employees at 11 state prisons last month, officials said Friday.

The inmates and employees had symptoms between May 16 and 26 that included fever, headaches, diarrhea, cramping and vomiting caused by campylobacter, a bacteria.

Investigators were never able to find the bacteria in food and milk samples, and they said milk processing equipment tested clean at the Deuel Vocational Institution farm in Tracy, which supplied milk to the 11 prisons.

But milk was "the only food item that had any significant connection" among the sick inmates, said Dr. Mark Starr of the California Department of Health Services. "It was quite a dramatic difference."

Those who consumed milk were 11 times more likely to have symptoms, he said.

The animal-borne bacteria is commonly spread to humans through meats or animal-contaminated milk or water.

Dr. Stephen Beam, chief of the milk and food safety branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, speculated that contaminated containers, packaging equipment or holding tanks may have been the problem, as the farm's pasteurization process and other procedures met health standards.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's acting secretary, James E. Tilton, said there was no evidence of human tampering. A few inmates were treated at prison infirmaries, but most were treated in their cells.

"The outbreak seems to be over," and the public was never affected, he said.

Dairy production was shut down for a few hours for inspection May 19, and 25,000 half-pint containers of milk produced May 8-18 were recalled and destroyed. Milk containers during that period had a higher bacteria count, Beam said, but the bacteria could not be identified.

The farm at Deuel produces about 6,000 gallons of raw milk each day. It is one of three prison dairies that employ about 300 inmates and supply milk to all but three of the state's prisons.

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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.

Inmates infected with the bacteria suffer symptoms that include nausea, headaches, body aches, vomiting, and diarrhea. Symptoms usually last up to five days.

Between May 16 and May 23, 1,344 inmates and 14 correctional staffers at 10 prisons came down with the disease, said Thornton.

Prisons with confirmed cases include: CMF, 32 cases; Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, 379 cases; Folsom State Prison, 10 cases; California Rehabilitation Center, 4 cases; California State Prison, Sacramento, 75 cases; Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, 200 cases; Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, 400 cases; Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, 94 cases; Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, 130 cases; Wasco State Prison in Kern County, 11 cases; and Avenol State Prison in Kings County, 9 cases.

State prison officials say they have not heard of any cases at California State Prison, Solano.

But prisoner activist Cayenne Bird with UNION, United for No Injustice Opression or Neglect, said she believes the problem could be more widespread.

"The UNION families want a full investigation - now!" she said in an e-mailed newsletter to members. "Prisons who have it need to stop transfers. What is being done to restore electrolytes? What about prisoners who cannot walk to the clinic? And those who cannot walk to chow? What is being done for them?"

Thornton said the main treatment for the disease is to keep the inmates hydrated and isolated so that they cannot infect others.

At CMF, Dionne Hudnall, public information officer, said inmates with the symptoms are given plenty of fluids and "the proper tools to clean their cells so that they do not re-infect themselves or others."

The bacteria can be transmitted from animals through food, unpasturized milk or contaminated water sources.

"We still don't know where it originated from," said Thornton. "We are working with county and state health officials to find out. In the meantime, the best prevention is to be careful with food handing, and observe good hygiene."

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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.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Terry Thornton, said health authorities have not pinpointed the source of the bacteria. She said Campylobacter can be spread through contaminated water or food, including meat or unpasteurized milk.

"It's a mystery right now," Thornton said. "We're looking at everything."

Most of the prisons with ill inmates were initially placed on 24-hour "lockdown" status after the outbreak, to reduce contact with contagious inmates and to free up staff to help with treatment, Thornton said. While on lockdown, prisons close to visitors and halt inmate programs and education.

Thornton said prison healthcare workers were most concerned about dehydration from excessive vomiting. Some inmates have been given intravenous fluids, she said.

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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 week, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.

Tests at Tracy's Deuel and Ione's Mule Creek State Prison found the culprit to be campylobacter, a bacterium spread through contaminated food and water. Prison officials have enlisted state health officials' help in finding the bacterium's source, Thornton said.

The outbreak began last week at Deuel, where the number of inmates suffering from fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea peaked Friday at 379.

Other affected prisons are Valley State Prison for Women; Central California Women's Facility; Wasco State Prison; Folsom State Prison; California Rehabilitation Center; Sierra Conservation Center; California State Prison, Sacramento; and California Rehabilitation Center.

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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.

"They're still trying to find out how inmates were exposed to it," she said.

The first group of Deuel inmates experienced fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea on Tuesday. The spread has slowed down at Deuel with just 18 new cases diagnosed from Thursday to Friday, said Deuel spokesman Lt. Mike Quaglia.

The epidemic has more than doubled, however, at Ione's Mule Creek State Prison, Thornton said. About 106 inmates there have come down with flulike symptoms, up from 44 the day before. Results from tests of inmate stool samples there haven't returned yet.

The Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla was put on the list of prisons reporting mass illness, with 40 women getting sick Friday. Sick inmates at all the afflicted prisons are being treated for dehydration. Symptoms last from two to five days.

Visiting has been suspended at Deuel and Mule Creek for the weekend. Thornton couldn't say how inmates at the different prisons became ill at about the same time.

"That's part of what they'll be looking at," she said.

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