Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D

Glass Onion Catering’s chicken and ham salads and wraps, sold at (among other locations) Trader Joe’s, have been implicated in at least 33 E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in four states, with the majority occurring in California, which has reported 28 confirmed cases. Washington State has reported three confirmed cases, and Arizona and Texas one each.  Unfortunately, at least ten of the victims have required hospitalization and two of the victims have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which causes kidney failure and can be life threatening. Notably, this E. coli O157:H7 PFGE pattern is the first of its kind in the…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Foster Farms chicken has been linked to at least 524 victims of Salmonella Heidelberg in 25 states. With confirmed victim counts averaging about three percent of the total number of victims in a given outbreak (as indicated by CDC projections), as many as 16,000 victims have likely contracted salmonella poisoning after eating Foster Farms chicken since March 1, 2013. The majority of the victims are California residents, who make up just over 3 in 4 of the victims nationwide.  In California alone, nearly 400 confirmed victims have been identified.  Health…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now identified 17 victims who have been infected with Salmonella Stanley from cheese sols by The Cultured Kitchen in Sacramento, California.  According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), at least three of those victims has been hospitalized so far. The CDPH has also issued a consumer alert warning consumers not to eat The Cultured Kitchen’s cashew cheese products (of which there are six flavors), which come in a series of round tubs. The Cultured Kitchen, for its part, issued a voluntary recall on December 31, 2013 of its cashew…

Health officials from Merrimack and Hillsborough counties in New Hampshire report, following a thorough investigation and interviews with victims, that at least 21 human cases of salmonella poisoning have been linked to Joey’s Jerky Brand Chicken Jerky, a pet treat made primarily for dogs. The company that makes the product, Kritters Kitchen Kreations, issued a recall following the reports of human and canine illnesses. The jerky was distributed at various retail outlets in New Hampshire, including the America’s Pet in Hudson, Blue Seal in Bow, K9 Kaos in Dover, Osborne’s Agway in Concord, Sandy’s Pet Food Center in Concord, and…

Several major outbreaks of Cyclospora cayetanensis, affecting a least 25 states, sickened  at least 631 people in 2013. A total of 631 persons infected with Cyclospora were reported from 25 states, including: Arkansas (16)              California (1)               Connecticut (2)           Florida (33) Georgia (5)                  Illinois (14)                  Iowa (140)                    Kansas (4) Louisiana (3)              Massachusetts (3)       Michigan (1)                Minnesota (3) Missouri (5)                Nebraska (87)              New Hampshire (1)    New Jersey (4) New York City (8)      New York State (2)     Ohio (3)                        Pennsylvania (1) South Dakota (1)        Tennessee (1)              Texas (270)                  Virginia (4) Wisconsin (18)            Wyoming (1). Most of the victims became ill between mid-June…

Between June 6 and 8, 2013, several patrons were exposed to salmonella at the Colonial Diner located at 924 North Broad Street in Woodbury, New Jersey. Due to the restaurant’s location, the Gloucester County Health Department (GCHD) led the investigation and determined that there were at least five salmonella victims who could be epidemiologically linked to the consumption of contaminated food at that location.  All of the victims had eaten at the restaurant from June 6th to June 8th, and five victims provided stool samples which tested positive for the identical strain of Salmonella Infantis. When GCHD received the reports…

On June 1, 2013, Elizabeth Kamau celebrated her graduation from college at a party hosted by her mother, Lucy.  About 30 of her friends attended.  The food was catered by Mount Everest, a Nepalese, Indian and American restaurant located at 7927 Belair Road, Suite C, in Nottingham, Maryland.  The meal consisted of chicken marsala, rice, vegetables, and lamb.  Although the party was enjoyable, over the next few days at least 11 of Elizabeth’s guests became sick with food poisoning, including her mother, Lucy, who had hosted the affair. Several victims sought medical attention, while others provided stool samples directly to…

Casa Mexicana, a Mexican cuisine restaurant in Madisonville, Kentucky, was linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium in Webster, Hopkins and Muhlenberg counties in early October of 2013. The link was made public by Hopkins County investigators who used pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to identify Salmonella Typhimurium JPXX01.0146 (the genetic code of this particular outbreak) from the food served at Casa Mexicana. According to the public health director Denise Beach of Madisonville County, 15 victims had been identified, including one fatality, by October 3, 2013.  Thereafter, the list of victims grew to 16 confirmed cases, including 14 direct contact…

Once again, only this time in Oklahoma, there is  a deadly strain of E. coli circulating that has that state investigators looking closely at agricultural events in the state.  There are 12 identified victims so far, all becoming symptomatic since mid-March of this year, but the number is expected to rise as investigators link additional victims bearing the same genetic footprint of a dangerous strain of E. coli.  The common link between these victims is attendance at county and state fairs throughout the state.  These 12 victims all sought medical attention at local hospitals on or before Thursday, April 3rd.…

The number of victims in the Foster Farms Chicken Salmonella Heidelberg Outbreak has topped 500 by many estimates and earlier announcements that the outbreak was over have been abandoned as new cases have been identified. On March 3, 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), verified that it had identified at least 481 Salmonella Heidelberg victims in 25 states, with over one-third of those requiring hospitalization.  The victims’ illnesses have been linked by the CDC to consumption of chicken manufactured and sold by Foster Farms. See CDC Report. The majority of the victims reside in California (365 confirmed…