Campylobacter Watch

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Food is the most common vehicle for the spread of Campylobacter. Poultry is the most common food implicated. Some case-control studies indicate that up to 70% of sporadic cases of campylobacteriosis are associated with eating chicken.
Surveys by the USDA demonstrated that up to 88% of the broiler chicken carcasses in the USA are contaminated with Campylobacter while a recent Consumer Reports study identified Campylobacter in 63% of more then 1000 chickens obtained in grocery stores. Other identified food vehicles include unpasteurized milk, undercooked meats, mushrooms, hamburger, cheese, pork, shellfish, and eggs.Continue Reading Where does Campylobacter come from?

Amy L. Becker Staff Writer
Apr 1, 2005 (CIDRAP News) — A study of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter levels on retail chicken products suggests that the pathogen lingers in chickens long after antibiotic use among the birds is stopped.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that sizable percentages of retail chicken samples from two large companies had antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter on them even though the companies had stopped treating their flocks with the antibiotic in question a year earlier.
In addition, the researchers found that chicken samples from those two companies were more likely to carry antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter on them than were samples from two companies that marketed their products as completely antibiotic-free.Continue Reading Drug-resistant bacteria linger on chicken, study finds

2005-04-16
A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed important declines in foodborne infections due to common bacterial pathogens in 2004.
For the first time, cases of E. coli O157 infections, one of the most severe foodborne diseases, are below the national Healthy People 2010 health goal. From 1996-2004, the incidence of E. coli O157 infections decreased 42 percent. Campylobacter infections decreased 31 percent, Cryptosporidium dropped 40 percent, and Yersinia decreased 45 percent.Continue Reading Foodborne Illnesses Continue Downward Trend: 2010 Health Goals For E. Coli 0157 Reached

By Alex Dominguez
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BALTIMORE — Antibiotic-resistant bacteria continued to be found in chickens bought at area supermarkets a year after two large poultry producers stopped using an antibiotic blamed for creating the resistant strains, Johns Hopkins researchers report.
The researchers say the findings suggest antibiotic-resistant bacteria may persist in the poultry industry after the use of the antibiotics, known as fluoroquinolones, has stopped and may contaminate more poultry than previously thought.
However, one of the producers and a researcher not involved with the study said the study did not show whether the amount of bacteria found presented a health risk. They also said the findings were not clear on whether the resistant strains were naturally present or use of the antibiotic caused the resistant strains.Continue Reading Tough bugs persist on poultry

March 31, 2005
Katie Pollack
Sun Contributor
In an effort to limit acute gastroenteritis, or food poisoning, the second most prevalent household illness, Cornell professors from the department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences have joined a research team which aims to identify the origin and transmission of pathogens that cause food-related illnesses.
Earlier this month, the United States Department of Agriculture formally announced the formation of the Food Safety Research and Response Network (FSRRN), funded by a $5 million grant from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. The research team is comprised of over 50 experts from 18 different campuses across the country.Continue Reading Cornell Researchers Fight Food Poisoning

Dairyman pushing bill to allow consumers to choose unpasteurized product
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
By Theo Stein
Denver Post Staff Writer
Loveland – As Colorado’s chief advocate for raw milk, David Lynch has been spending time lately at the state Capitol in pursuit of a small victory on the long road to legitimacy in Colorado.
He is pushing a bill that would make it legal for investors in a dairy herd to obtain raw milk from their cows. The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, survived a state House committee vote after passing the Senate last month.
“This is such a compelling right-to-choose issue,” Lynch said. “We need to provide people a way to access foods that they determine are best for their health.”Continue Reading Got raw milk?

Campylobacter jejuni (Pronounced “camp-e-low-back-ter j-june-eye”) was not recognized as a cause of human foodborne illness prior to 1975. Now, the bacterial organism is known to be the most common cause of foodborne illness in the U.S.1 (Salmonella is the second most common cause).
Most cases Campylobacter infection occur as isolated, sporadic events, not as a…

Mar 27, 2005
Fifteen people in Florida who visited agricultural fairs recently have developed a life-threatening kidney disease or are infected with bacteria that can cause it, Florida health officials said yesterday.
Eleven of those affected are children, and petting zoos at the two fairs are suspected, but Florida’s secretary of health said it was “too early to point to one single element, such as a petting zoo.”
Epidemiologists are “trying to triangulate the 15 cases and see if they can be associated with a single point source,” the secretary, Dr. John O. Agwunobi, said.
Officials at various Florida hospitals told The Associated Press that they knew of nine children with hemolytic uremic syndrome who had visited petting zoos at the Central Florida Fair in Orlando or the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City. One Florida television reporter described the death of a child who had visited a petting zoo, but it was unclear if there was any connection.Continue Reading Florida Officials Seek a Link in 15 Cases of a Kidney Illness

By Judith Blake
Seattle Times staff reporter
March 23, 2005
The calls run the food-safety gamut:
ï A Seattle-area woman said she’d found walnuts in a packaged, pre-cut salad mix, though nuts were not listed in the ingredients. Her young son, who was severely allergic to walnuts, did not eat any of the nuts, but the woman worried that someone else might have an allergic reaction to the mislabeled product.
ï A man discovered mold on the meat-filled breakfast burrito he’d purchased at a convenience store.
ï A woman was dismayed to find larvae in an energy snack bar.
These are among the calls consumers have made to the new toll-free Food Safety Consumer Complaint Hotline (1-800-843-7890) launched in January by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
Goal: to reduce the risk of food-borne illness by making it easier for consumers to lodge complaints and for officials to address them.Continue Reading New hotline handles food-safety complaints

BALTIMORE, MD, Mar. 21 (UPI) — The presence of drug-resistant bacteria on uncooked poultry varies by commercial brand and probably is related to use of antibiotics, a U.S. study found.
The study, published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first to compare directly bacterial contamination of poultry sold in U.S. supermarkets from food producers who use antibiotics and from those who say they do not.
The study focused on antibiotic resistance, specifically, fluoroquinolone-resistance in Campylobacter, a pathogen responsible for 2.4 million cases of food-borne illness per year in the United States.Continue Reading Poultry bacterial contamination compared