One person has died and 77 people have been sickened in the United States by an outbreak of drug-resistant salmonella that likely originated in ground turkey – Last Friday, the U.S.D.A. issued an alert warning consumers to fully cook ground turkey. Ground turkey is a popular substitute for ground beef for grilled burgers. It is not illegal to sell meat contaminated with salmonella; cooking the meat thoroughly can destroy the pathogen.
GM chickens that don’t transmit bird flu developed – Breakthrough could prevent future bird flu epidemics – Chickens genetically modified to prevent them spreading bird flu have been produced by researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh. They developed a new gene coding that controls bird flu virus progress.
FDA: Don?t Eat Tiny Greens Brand Alfalfa Sprouts or Spicy Sprouts – US FDA is advising consumers not to eat Alfalfa Sprouts and Spicy Sprouts (which contain alfalfa sprouts mixed with radish and clover sprouts) from Tiny Greens Organic Farm of Urbana, Ill.
URGENT Nationwide Egg Recall in US — Eggs in Their Shells May Put Consumers at Risk for Salmonella – An outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) that has sickened hundreds of people across the US has led to a recall of shell eggs. Working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state public health partners, the FDA reviewed epidemiologic and environmental investigation documents and identified 3 best-case clusters of Salmonella Enteritidis illnesses.
Salsa and guacamole increasingly important causes of foodborne disease – Nearly 1 out of every 25 restaurant-associated foodborne outbreaks with identified food sources between 1998 and 2008 can be traced back to contaminated salsa or guacamole, more than double the rate during the previous decade.
Study Finds H1N1 Associated With Serious Health Risks for Pregnant Women – Pregnant women who contract the H1N1 flu strain are at risk for obstetrical complications including fetal distress, premature delivery, emergency cesarean delivery and fetal death, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
State Public Health Director Announces Tuberculosis Cases Hit Record Low Despite Recent Outbreak — Illinois still ranks 5th in the nation for highest number of TB cases – In recognition of World Tuberculosis Day, Dr. Damon T. Arnold, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), announced an all time low for the number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases in Illinois.
Drug resistant tuberculosis now at record levels, says WHO – World Health Organization – In some areas of the world, one in four people with tuberculosis (TB) becomes ill with a form of the disease that can no longer be treated with standard drugs regimens, a World Health Organization (WHO) report says.
Insect cells provide the key to alternative swine flu vaccination — New production method can meet the demand of a global flu pandemic – Scientists in Vienna have developed a new technique for producing vaccines for H1N1, ‘swine flu’, based on insect cells. The research, published today in the Biotechnology Journal, reveals how influenza vaccines can be produced faster than through the traditional method of egg-based production, revealing a new strategy for the fight against influenza pandemics.
Children more likely to catch swine flu, says new research – Young people aged under 18 years are more likely than adults to catch swine flu from an infected person in their household, revealed by researchers in a recent study.
