Campylobacter Watch

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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.Continue Reading Undercooked lamb shanks leave engineer paralysed

Three times higher than Australia; 30 times higher than the US
09 July 2006
University of Otago public health researchers say New Zealand should seriously consider banning the sale of fresh chicken for human consumption, and switch to frozen chicken instead, to alleviate the country’s serious campylobacter epidemic.
A study by the University’s Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ researchers just published in the international journal Epidemiology and Infection paints an alarming picture about the rate of campylobacter infection in New Zealand. Infection rates have risen steadily for more than two decades and are now more than three times higher than that reported in Australia and 30 times higher than the United States. This is the first time that New Zealand’s comparative situation has been quantified and comprehensively reported in an international peer-review journal. Since the research was completed, rates have risen to a new high of 416/100,000 for the 12 months ending May 2006, based on 15,553 cases notified during that period.Continue Reading Study reveals New Zealand campylobacter rates highest in world

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.”Continue Reading Raw milk: Fit for human consumption?

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.Continue Reading Fecal contamination responsible for Bible camp closure

Thursday, 27 July 2006, 2:54 pm
Press Release: Green Party
27 July 2006
The Green Party is alarmed that the Government will not take any decisive action in the foreseeable future to reduce the epidemic of campylobacter infections in New Zealand while it waits for yet more advice.
In the House today the Minister of Food Safety, in response to questioning by Greens’ Food Safety Spokesperson Sue Kedgley, said they would not act until further research was conducted.Continue Reading Lack of decisive action on epidemic is alarming

Are happy chickens safe chickens? One researcher believes so, outlining a possible role of bird stress on the number of campylobacter positive flocks.
Speaking at the recent 2006 World Poultry Science Association meeting in York, Tom Humphrey of the University of Bristol revealed new results that show the incidence of campylobacter had fallen from 76%…

By DAN RAHN University of Georgia
You pack your child’s lunch for school early in the morning, but she doesn’t eat it until lunchtime. Is it still safe then? Foodborne illnesses can be serious, even deadly, for young children especially. But lunch doesn’t have to be risky.
“It’s not hard to keep packed lunches safe,” said Connie Crawley, a Cooperative Extension nutrition and health specialist with the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “But it takes some thought and preparation.”
In a packed school lunch, Crawley said, food safety depends on what you pack and how you pack it.
Choosing the food is a big step. Many of your child’s favorites are perfectly safe at room temperature.Continue Reading Don’t let danger sneak into your child’s lunchbox; it’s not hard to keep food safe

Tuesday, July 25, 2006
By NANCY LUNA
The Orange County Register
A San Clemente woman left with permanent nerve damage after eating an Ahi tuna appetizer at Salt Creek Grille was awarded $3.2 million by an Orange County jury.
The Dana Point eatery plans to appeal the July 11 verdict for Alexis Sarti, 22. She…