Campylobacter Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Campylobacter Blog

US - A quicker, simpler way to distinguish between Campylobacter species has now been licensed for manufacture by two U.S. companies. The new culture medium called Campy-Cefex is specifically designed to detect and differentiate C. jejuni and C. coli mixtures of food-contaminating microbes. These two bacteria are important causes of foodborne illness.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) microbiologist Norman Stern, with the ARS Poultry Microbiological Safety Research Unit (PMSRU) in Athens, Ga., began developing the new medium in 1987. That’s when he traveled to Poland to work with researchers Boleslaw Wojton and Kris Kwiatek at the Veterinary Research Institute in Pulawy, Poland.

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Washington - Danger could be hiding in your dinner salad.

Food most people consider healthy, such as raw sprouts, salad greens, cooked fruit and rice, can pose serious health risks if they are improperly prepared and stored.

Sprouts are considered risky because they grow in a bacteria-friendly moist environment. Outbreaks have involved raw alfalfa and mixed sprouts that were contaminated with salmonella, which can lead to fever, cramps, diarrhea and even death, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Thorough cooking significantly reduces health risks for sprouts, as well as other foods.

Certain people are at greater risk, including young children, the elderly, the immune-compromised and pregnant women, according to Sam Beattie, a food safety extension specialist at Iowa State University.

The bacteria campylobacter, salmonella and E. coli, as well as Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses, cause the most commonly recognized food-borne infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is working on analyses to estimate the number of illnesses each year in the United States from various foods. Initial reports are expected in 2008.

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I showed up at the farm in the dark of night. This was not a necessary element to procuring my illicit elixir, but it somehow seemed apropos. A lone light and the moon illuminated the gravel drive between my car and the barn in rural Alamance County. A black cat scurried across my path, and I mused at the irony.

Just as promised, I found the milk in the fridge. "Nelson" was printed neatly on the glass with indelible ink on an otherwise unlabeled jar. No one was around except for a dog, who surveyed my intentions and went back to guarding the cows. I left the money on the counter and departed with my contraband.

This was actually the least secretive element in my quest to find raw milk. Getting here had required everything short of a secret handshake.

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June 19, 2007 -- A quick trip to the deli salad bar can result in an even quicker bout of food poisoning.

With the summer heat upon us, health experts warn that the popular "pay-by-the-pound" salad bars found in delis citywide are prime breeding grounds for bacteria and other pathogens.

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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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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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The Wilson Daily reported today about a Campylobacter outbreak among Wilson, North Carolina, residents. According to the article, an investigation into the outbreak is ongoing.

Health Department employees investigated the food poisoning cases and visited two Wilson restaurants. Neither were linked to the food poisoning.

Hospital workers reported the food poisoning cases to the Health Department, which investigated two restaurants. Ray Hudnell, environmental health supervisor at the Health Department, said the report was received after the incident occurred.

Several of the victims of the outbreak were hospitalized for dehydration.

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The New Zealand Medical Association released a paper on food-associated Campylobacteriosis  in August, 2006.  It can be found at http://www.nzma.org.nz/news/media-releases/flies.pdf.

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