Campylobacter E.coli Foodborne Infections in US Rising

Infections from campylobacter in the US, which is linked to many foods, including poultry, raw milk and produce, rose by 14 per cent in 2012 compared to 2006-2008.

They were at their highest level since 2000, according to the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vibrio infections as a whole were up 43 per cent when compared with the rates observed in 2006-2008.

Vibrio vulnificus, the most severe strain, has not increased.

Foodborne vibrio infections are most often associated with eating raw shellfish.

While progress had been made in the past few years in reducing infections from a dangerous type of E. coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157, rates in 2012 went back up. Incidence of STEC O157 infection had decreased to 0.95 per 100,000 people in 2010, but last year went back up to 1.12 per 100,000 people.

Overall in 2012, FoodNet’s 10 sites reported 19,531 illnesses, with 4,563 receiving hospital treatment and 68 deaths from nine germs commonly spread through foods.

In China, health officials have indicated that the most likely cause of the spread of the latest form of avian influenza A(H7N9) is through markets where the live birds are kept and slaughter.

The director of the Health Emergency Centre at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Feng Zijian, said that there is no evidence of human-to-human transfer of the virus.

But he said that the old equipment and the methods of slaughter in some of the Chinese markets could mean the infection is transmitted through an aerosol effect of the virus in the environment.

The Russian authorities have blocked imports of beef from Mexico because of concerns that the animals may have been treated with ractopamine.

Now there are concerns that the conflict could cause a trade war between the two countries.