Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D

Minnesota Health Officials Issue Statement to Food Poisoning News – Carleton College Norovirus Outbreak Confirms Investigation of Specific Food Establishment linked to “Carleton College Outbreak” In a statement to Food Poisoning News, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDOH) confirmed that they are currently investigating an outbreak that has sickened a large number of students at Carleton College. The outbreak has been linked to an area restaurant. Over the past week, Carleton College, located in Northfield, Minnesota, has included by local and national media alike on the growing list of colleges and universities currently experiencing outbreaks of norovirus on campus. When asked what they believe caused…

Republic of Tea, a tea manufacturer founded in 1992, initiated a tea recall of its Organic Tumeric Ginger Green Tea “in response to a possible health risk.” The company emphasizes that no other teas produced by the company are subject to the recall. The Republic of Tea made the decision to announce the voluntary tea recall due to concerns that the tea may be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. According to the company, a supplier notified the Republic of Tea that one lot of its organic ginger ingredient may be contaminated with the potentially harmful bacteria. The company’s press release goes…

The National IHR Focal Point of the US. notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of an ongoing investigation involving four distinct multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections. The infections, linked to exposure to small turtles, are disproportionately affecting young children. Small turtle sales have been banned in the US since 1975. Four Outbreaks, One “Source” The four ongoing outbreaks have all been traced to small turtles, defined as turtles with a shell length of less than 4 inches (10 cm). Infection can also occur from exposure to the reptiles’ environment (i.e. water from a turtle habitat). A compilation of the outbreak…

About 25 students at Carleton College have fallen ill with norovirus. The outbreak comes during a season that has included outbreaks at Universities across the US, including outbreaks at Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, Oregon State University, the University of Rochester, and the University of Michigan, among others. Carleton Outbreak Linked to Local Café The Carleton outbreak differs from the other outbreaks on college campuses this spring in one important way: this outbreak has been linked to one local eatery, Hogan Brothers’ Acoustic Café. The restaurant, while not required to do so, voluntarily closed over the weekend. The purpose of the closure: to clean and…

Late last week, Foster Poultry Farms recalled 220,450 pounds of fully cooked frozen chicken nuggets. The Farmerville, Louisiana company’s recall comes a little more than two years after it had to recall an undetermined amount of chicken products due to contamination with Salmonella Heidelberg. This time, Foster Farms’ problem doesn’t center around a bacterial outbreak -instead, the company is recalling the nuggets due to the potential that they may be contaminated with blue plastic and black rubber materials. Despite the fact that this recall isn’t a true “outbreak,” it calls into question how much the company has learned from the bacterial outbreaks…

Krasnyi Oktyabr Inc. announced a recall of two dry eviscerated fish products due to concerns that the products may be contaminated with Botulism, “a bacterium which can cause life threatening illness or death.” The recalled products, Bream Dry Eviscerated Salted Fish and Vobla (Roach) Dry Eviscerated Salted Fish and Bream Dry Eviscerated Salted Fish, should not be used or consumed regardless of whether or not they appear or smell spoiled, as food products contaminated with Botulism may look and smell completely normal. The Brooklyn company imported the dry eviscerated fish from Russia, and sold them to retail stores in both New York and…

An Unexpected Death in the Family… Russ Rice, a Veterinarian from Broken Bow, Nebraska, did not expect today to be the beginning of a saga that made him consider E. coli – certain STEC subsets, in particular – in a different way. He stood still as he observed the crew begin to pull some young female cows from a pen of 170 other heifers. Rice and his crew chose the cows based on their general demeanor and appearance, carefully selecting those that seemed to be lethargic, sick, or acting abnormally. Today, he had noticed a number of heifers he felt were in need of respiratory…

Hotel Marshfield Linked to 56 Likely Norovirus Cases after Reporting 21 Possible Cases Less than One Week Ago A Wisconsin County Health Department has released data indicating that 56 individuals have now fallen ill following an April 6th Roehl Transport corporate party held at the Hotel Marshfield, a full-service hotel located in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The newly-released count, provided by the Wood County Health Department, more than doubles the count released by officials less than a week ago, which stood at 21 cases. According to Jonathan Anderson of USA Today Network, all 56 individuals were in attendance at the corporate party. Collaborative Investigation: Determining the…

Processing Plant Responsible for 33 Cases of Listeria Resumes Operations in Ohio Dole is restarting operations at its processing facility in Springfield, Ohio. Resuming operations at an industrial facility normally wouldn’t make headlines, but this isn’t any processing plant: this is the facility that produced the Listeria-contaminated produce responsible for 19 cases of Listeria in the US – including one fatality – and 14 additional cases in Canada. Three deaths were reported among the confirmed Canadian cases; however, the Canadian Public Health Agency would not confirm that Listeria was the immediate cause of death in any of the three cases. Resumption of…

At Least 30 Norovirus Cases Linked to Fiesta Mexicana restaurant in Red Wing, MN Earlier this morning, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDOH) confirmed a norovirus outbreak linked to Fiesta Mexicana restaurant in Red Wing, Minnesota. At least 30 confirmed norovirus cases have been linked to the outbreak; however, MDOH has received approximately 50 food poisoning complaints from diners. According to some media accounts, the investigation was launched after those complaints were received. The complaints came from people who ate at the restaurant between April 7th and April 9th. Health Department Discovers Potential Sources of Outbreak; Provides Restaurant with Additional…