Shigella Blog - Surveillance & analysis on Shigella news & outbreaks

Sunday, May 29, 2005
The Health Department is investigating an increase in the number of shigella cases in Kansas City.

Kansas City, Mo. - infoZine - Health officials are concerned that the number could continue to rise without public awareness and action.

Shigella is transmitted by direct or indirect fecal-oral contact with a symptomatic patient. Shigella also may be transmitted by ingesting contaminated food and water. Adults and children can be affected and the elderly and malnourished also are susceptible.

The Health Department is encouraging everyone to be alert to the following symptoms:

Tuesday, May 17, 2005 Posted: 3:48 PM EDT (1948 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- An airline catering company must take major steps to clean its Honolulu location or risk the unit's closure after U.S. health inspectors found live cockroaches, dirty utensils and an oozing, pink slime earlier this year, according to a letter released Tuesday.

Gate Gourmet, Inc., which provides food and beverages to a number of airlines at Honolulu Airport, also kept "dirty uncovered" trash cans near food, let workers handle ice cubes with bare hands, and did not keep food at proper temperatures, the Food and Drug Administration warned.

FDA Sent Catering Company Warning Letter
POSTED: 11:10 am CDT May 20, 2005

UPDATED: 11:24 am CDT May 20, 2005

HONOLULU -- Contaminated carrots served over three days on flights out of Honolulu were likely at the root of 45 cases of food poisoning across 22 states, Japan, Australia and American Samoa, state epidemiologist Paul Effler said Thursday.

A lawsuit was filed Thursday in state Circuit Court in Honolulu against the caterer, Gate Gourmet, which served the carrots.

According to the lawsuit, Ernie Lyon of Orlando, Fla., became ill with symptoms including nausea, diarrhea, fever and tremors three days after a Northwest Airlines flight from Honolulu to Minneapolis on August 22.

May 13, 2005

Two more cases of Shigella are reported in Jackson as officials continue to struggle to contain the bacteria 4 months after the 1st outbreak. With the new cases,the county now has 54 confirmed cases of Shigella since the start of the year. 13 of those cases have been in the last 2 weeks.

Health officials say they don't believe the outbreak originated in the schools,but 27 of the cases involve students. Jackson officials says they're still worried about controlling the spread of the disease.

Mary Ricciardello, RN Jackson County Health Department: "W e're just worried about the infectiousness of this disease. We're afraid that this isn't just going to smolder, but I'm just hoping it doesn't explode."

On September 3, 2004, the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) was notified by representatives of the Japanese Ministry of Health that several persons with diarrheal illness and stool cultures positive for Shigella sonnei had reported flying from Honolulu to Japan during August 22-24 on Airline A. Review of Hawaii DOH records revealed recent reports of positive stool cultures for S. sonnei from a child in Ohio who departed Honolulu on Airline A on August 22, and from a woman who flew from Honolulu to Sydney on Airline B on August 23.

Contact with the Minnesota DOH identified a cluster of S. sonnei infections with a matching pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern. At least one case was in a person who departed Honolulu on Airline A on August 22. Preliminary investigation indicated that airlines A and B shared a common caterer in Honolulu , Catering Company X.

With media attention on product recalls due to potential contamination with such bacteria and viruses as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and hepatitis A and outbreaks of illnesses caused by these pathogens comes consumersí need to know about foodborne pathogens. Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented thousands of victims of foodborne illness outbreaks across the country, re-launched its Web site about foodborne illness, www.foodborneillness.com, in mid-April.

(PRWEB) May 3, 2005 -- Foodborne illnesses, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and Hepatitis A, have been the topic of news reports across the nation in recent months. With media attention on product recalls and outbreaks comes consumersí need to know about foodborne pathogens. Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented thousands of victims of foodborne illness outbreaks across the country, re-launched its Web site about foodborne illness, www.foodborneillness.com, in mid-April.