Cyclospora outbreak total tops 500
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that it has received reports of 38 more Cyclospora infections, pushing the total in the multistate outbreak to 504.
So far 30 patients have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. The most recent illness onset was Jul 24, but the CDC said most of the patients got sick in the middle of June through early July.
The number of affected states remained at 16. The states with the highest numbers of cases are Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Florida (see CDC map below).
Meanwhile, the number of Cyclospora cases in Texas continued to grow, with the state reporting 204 illnesses so far. Fourteen of the cases aren't yet reflected in the CDC's total and would raise the national number of cases to 518. The Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) said most of the cases are from the Dallas and Fort Worth area, but so far no common exposure source has been identified. It said the cases may be linked to the outbreaks in Iowa and Nebraska.
Federal health officials are assisting with the Texas investigation. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said it's not clear if illnesses in other states are part of the same outbreak. Last week an FDA trace-back investigation confirmed that a restaurant salad mix linked to illness clusters in Iowa and Nebraska came from a Taylor Farms facility in Mexico.
Aug 8 CDC update
Aug 8 TDSHS update
Comment period extended again for food safety rules
The comment period for two proposed rules of the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) have been extended again, this time by 60 days to Nov 15, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today.
The two rules—"Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food" and "Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption"—were first posted in January, at which time the FDA asked for comments by May 16. After receiving repeated requests for an extension, the agency extended the comment period to Sep 16.
Today the FDA extended the comment period an additional 60 days, saying it will be the final extension. Separate notices for the two rules will be posted tomorrow in the Federal Register.
"FDA is taking this action to allow interested persons the opportunity to consider the interrelationships between these two proposals . . . and the two new proposed rules that published on July 29, 2013," the agency said in a statement. The rules published last month dealt with imported food safety and third-party food safety audits of imported foods.
Aug 8 FDA statement
Jan 4 CIDRAP News story on the two rules
Jul 26 CIDRAP News story on the import-safety rules
Iowa reports spike in Cryptosporidium cases
The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) said today that the state is experiencing a steep rise in cryptosporidiosis cases, especially since Jun 1. So far the state has received reports of 358 cases, with 138 more that are under investigation.
The illnesses have been reported from nearly half of Iowa's 99 counties, the IDPH said in a statement. For comparison, last year Iowa recorded 328 cases for the whole year.
The IDPH said many of the sick patients reported swimming in pools, lakes, or rivers. A small number of them reported exposure to animals. Patricia Quinlisk, MD, IDPH's medical director, said in the statement that the most effective way to keep swimming waters healthy is to keep sick people who have had diarrhea out of the pool.
The disease, caused by the Cryptosporidium parvum parasite, is an intestinal illness that lasts a few days in healthy people but can be serious in children and older people and fatal in those with weakened immunity. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and a low-grade fever.
Iowa has also been battling another parasitic disease outbreak cause by Cyclospora (see first scan above).
Aug 8 IDPH statement
Common kitchen items harbor pathogens
Unsafe levels of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Listeria, yeast, and mold are present in such common kitchen items as blender gaskets and rubber spatulas, say the findings of a study released yesterday by NSF International, a global public health and safety organization.
The study, called the 2013 NSF International Household Germ Study, analyzed 14 common kitchen items, according to an NSF press release. It found that consumers often know what kitchen items may harbor the most germs but still do not clean those items properly, which could be unwittingly making themselves and others sick.
Items found to be "germiest," ranked from highest to lowest in germ count, are refrigerator water dispenser; rubber spatula; blender; refrigerator vegetable compartment, ice dispenser, and meat compartment; knife block; food storage container with rubber seal; can opener; and refrigerator insulating seal.
More than 20% of foodborne illness outbreaks originate from food eaten at home, the report says, citing the CDC.
Aug 7 NSF press release
NSF information on cleaning kitchen items