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What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017
| Contributor Information
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Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
Multistate Enteric Disease Outbreaks to Keep on Your Radar
In this slideshow, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reviews noteworthy multistate outbreaks of enteric disease from 2016.
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
Listeria was isolated from a prepackaged salad from product sampling at a retail location. The Listeria found in the salad was closely related genetically to Listeria infections that occurred in several states, leading to one death. The company stopped production and voluntarily recalled all of the salad mixes produced at their Springfield, Ohio facility.[1]
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
After ill people reported eating the same brand of powdered meal replacement products, the company making the products issued a recall. Patients who use meal replacements or supplements should pay attention to recalls of these products to avoid using products that are known to be contaminated.[2]
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
Sales of raw milk products are on the rise in the United States, as are illnesses and outbreaks linked to these products. Providers should encourage all patients, especially parents of young children, older adults, and immunocompromised people, to only consume dairy products that are pasteurized.[3]
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
Product testing identified the same strain of Listeria in frozen vegetable products that had sickened several people over a 3-year period. Whole genome sequencing showed that the Listeria in the vegetables was closely related genetically to Listeria found in the sick people.[4]
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What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
Through interviews, investigators discovered that a substantial proportion of ill people ate or tasted raw dough or batter before becoming ill. Testing of leftover flour from people's homes identified the same strain of Escherichia coli that was making people sick. This was the first multistate outbreak of E coli infections definitively linked to eating raw flour.[5]
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
Backyard flocks are becoming increasingly popular. Pediatricians and clinicians should ask families about flock ownership if a patient presents with a gastrointestinal illness. If families maintain a flock, they should make sure to practice regular handwashing and not allow children younger than 5 years old to touch the live poultry without adult supervision.[6]
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
Raw or undercooked sprouts should be avoided by children, pregnant women, older adults, and immunocompromised people. People who are concerned about the risk for illness from sprouts can ask that sprouts not be added to foods when eating out or take additional food safety measures such as cooking sprouts thoroughly before eating them.[7]
Images courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dreamstime
What Foods Are Making People Sick? Recent Major Outbreaks
Leslie Salas, MPH; Laura Burnworth, MPH | June 27, 2017 | Contributor Information
People in this outbreak were infected with multidrug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg resulting from contact with dairy bull calves. Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella infections in people may increase the risk for severe illness, leading to hospitalization, a bloodstream infection, or treatment failure. In this outbreak, 42% of ill people were hospitalized.[8]
The latest CDC data suggest Campylobacter and Salmonella were the top causes of foodborne illness in 2016. However, shifts in testing may be obscuring true patterns.News, April 2017
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Contributor Information
Authors
Leslie Salas, MPH
Health Communication Student
Emory University Rollins School of Public Health
Atlanta, Georgia
Disclosure: Leslie Salas, MPH, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Laura Burnworth, MPH
Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Georgia
Disclosure: Laura Burnworth, MPH, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
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References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to packaged salads produced at Springfield, Ohio Dole processing facility (final update). March 31, 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/bagged-salads-01-16/index.html Accessed May 1, 2017.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multistate outbreak of Salmonella Virchow infections linked to Garden of Life RAW meal organic shake & meal products (final update). April 21, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/virchow-02-16/index.html Accessed May 1, 2017.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infections linked to flour (final update). September 29, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2016/o121-06-16/index.html Accessed May 1, 2017.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eight multistate outbreaks of human Salmonella infections linked to live poultry in backyard flocks (final update). October 6, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/live-poultry-05-16/index.html Accessed May 1, 2017.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg infections linked to contact with dairy bull calves (final update). March 20, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/heidelberg-11-16/index.html Accessed May 1, 2017.
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