Saudi Arabia confirms MERS in man, woman
A man and a woman have developed MERS-CoV illness in Saudi Arabia, continuing a trickle of recent cases, according to the nation's Ministry of Health (MOH).
The man, 43, is from the Saudi capital of Riyadh in the center of the country. He has no underlying medical conditions and is being treated in an intensive care unit (ICU).
The other patient, also hospitalized in an ICU, is a 38-year-old woman from Taif in Mecca province in southwestern Saudi Arabia. She has an unspecified pre-existing disease, according to the typically sparse MOH report.
Neither is a healthcare worker, the agency said, and both are Saudi citizens. Their MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases raise the Saudi total to 729, of which 302 have been fatal.
The MOH has confirmed four other MERS cases in recent weeks. The most recent was on Sep 8.
Sep 12 MOH update
Sep 8 CIDRAP News scan on previous case
Foster Farms plants cited repeatedly in FSIS inspection reports
Two Foster Farms plants in California tied to a large multistate outbreak of drug-resistant Salmonella cases have received at least 200 food safety violation citations since 2009, Food Safety News (FSN) reported today.
The violations were brought to light yesterday when the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) posted 300 pages of noncompliance reports (NRs) from the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The material was obtained from the FSIS by filing requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
The reports cover Jan 1, 2009, through Mar 6, 2014. NRs are the first step that FSIS meat inspectors take to ensure corrective action.
About 100 of the 300 pages of NR reports cover the first part of 2014. Many cite fecal material on poultry carcasses and unsanitary conditions.
In releasing the reports, NRDC called many of them "incredibly unsavory," FSN reported. The Salmonella outbreak extended from March 2013 to this July and involved at least 634 cases in 29 states. Foster Farms did not recall any of its products until the outbreak was almost over.
Sep 12 FSN story
NRDC PDF of FSIS reports
North Dakota study finds Lyme disease ticks moving west
A survey conducted in North Dakota in 2010 found the ticks that carry Lyme disease bacteria (Ixodes scapularis, or deer ticks), marking their first known appearance in the state and showing that they are spreading westward, according to a study in the September Journal of Medical Entomology.
The researchers collected 1,762 ticks through sampling at sites in nine counties around North Dakota in the early summer of 2010. Most of the ticks (82%) were Dermacentor variabilis, but 17% were I scapularis, found in six eastern counties.
In one county (Grand Forks), three I scapularis ticks tested positive for Borrelia burdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Another eight ticks in the county were infected with Anaplasma phagocytophilum, which causes anaplasmosis.
The report notes that Lyme disease cases were rare in North Dakota before 2007 but have increased somewhat since then, with most reported in eastern counties.
"This is the first report of I. scapularis and associated pathogens occurring in North Dakota and provides evidence for continued westward expansion of this important vector tick species in the United States," the report says.
September J Med Entomol abstract
CDC chart of Lyme cases by state
Sep 11 Entomological Society of America press release
