CDC Food Safety Update: February Publications & Web Materials

CDC Food Safety Update: February Publications & Web Materials

CDC Food Safety Update: February Publications & Web Materials

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent this bulletin at 03/11/2013 01:27 PM EDT

CDC and Food Safety

New reports, publications, and web materials

Our Work, Our Stories 2011–2012

Read about CDC’s work in reducing foodborne illness.  This month the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, which houses CDC’s Food Safety Office, released  Our Work, Our Stories 2011–2012, the first public report about who we are and what we do.  The report features more than 50 spotlight stories and captioned visuals that offer an engaging look at our work during the past two years to prevent infections, protect people, and save lives.

Stories about food safety

• Benjamin Silk, CDC disease detective (Listeria)  (page 18)
• PulseNet at work—detecting hazardous hazelnuts (E. coli)  (page 26)
• Bioinformatics—Accelerating detection and analysis in the laboratory (page 28)
• Defeating diarrheal disease—a leading killer of adults and children in India (page 39)
• FoodCORE and NYC “Team Salmonella” (page 49)
• Tainted Turkey-Tracking antimicrobial resistance in food (a NARMS contribution) (page 66)
• Foodborne Disease and Food Safety (contributed to the investigations and content for the Tainted Turkey and Listeria and Cantaloupes stories) (page 71)
• FoodNet and reducing E. coli contamination (page 70)
• Targeting salmonella (page 72)

Not just food: Zoonoses 

• A Sample of Zoonotic Disease Outbreaks Caused by Contact with Animals (page 56)
• Cute but Contaminated - Small Turtles (page 60)

Medscape highlights CDC’s major multistate foodborne and zoonotic outbreaks for 2012

• Clinician outreach. Medscape slideshows highlighting the Major Foodborne Illness Outbreaks of 2012 and Major Outbreaks of Enteric Zoonoses in 2012 are available on the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne & Environmental Diseases website. 
• “Solve the Outbreak” app launched. CDC has launched an innovative new iPad app, “Solve the Outbreak.”  This free, interactive app lets users play the role of Disease Detectives. Users puzzle their way through various clues, charts, and data, trying to figure out what disease they’re dealing with and how the outbreak started. Available from the iTunes store.  

Attribution of Foodborne Illnesses, Hospitalizations, and Deaths to Food Commodities, United States, 1998–2008

Emerging Infectious Diseases Volume 19, Number 3—March 2013: “Attribution of Foodborne Illnesses, Hospitalizations, and Deaths to Food Commodities by using Outbreak Data, United States, 1998-2008.”

New websites. http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/attribution.html, http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/attribution-1998-2008.html 

New podcast. Knowing which foods make us sick will help guide food safety regulations. Dr. John Painter, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discusses his study about which foods can make us sick.

• Listen Now or Download MP3 Length: 13:47
• Download Transcript   [PDF - 105KB - 5 pages]
• View full-text article: Attribution of Foodborne Illnesses, Hospitalizations, and Deaths to Food Commodities by using Outbreak Data, United States, 1998–2008 

Key CDC publications for food safety in February 2013  

Botulism

• A recent MMWR Notes from the Field reports the fifth outbreak of botulism in a prison associated with pruno, an illicit alcoholic beverage self-brewed by prisoners.
  • Yasmin S, Adams L, Rao A, Mody R, Luquez C, Dykes J, et al. Notes from the Field: Botulism From Drinking Prison-Made Illicit Alcohol – Arizona, 2012. MMWR. 62(05); 88-88.

Clostridium perfringens

• A recently published study shows that, from 1998 to 2010, among the 144 outbreaks caused by Clostridium perfringens and attributed to a single food commodity, beef was the most common commodity (66 outbreaks, 46%), followed by poultry (43 outbreaks, 30%), and pork (23 outbreaks, 16%).
  • Grass JE, Gould LH, Mahon BE. Epidemiology of Foodborne Disease Outbreaks Caused by Clostridium perfringens, United States, 1998-2010. Foodborne pathogens and disease. 2013 Feb 4.

E. coli

• A recently published study describes a multistate outbreak of STEC O157:H7 infections associated with consumption of romaine lettuce. Traceback analysis determined that a single common lot of romaine lettuce was linked to the outbreak strain but the investigation did not identify the source of contamination.
  • Slayton RB, Turabelidze G, Bennett SD, Schwensohn CA, Yaffee AQ, Khan F, et al. Outbreak of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 Associated with Romaine Lettuce Consumption, 2011. PloS one. 2013;8(2):e55300

Listeria

• In 2005, 2008, and 2011, an investigation found donated platelets contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. This underscores the value of screening for bacterial contaminants.
  • Menon M, Graves L, McCombs K, Hise K, Silk B, Kuehnert M, Lynch M. Listeria monocytogenes in donated platelets: a potential transfusion-transmitted pathogen intercepted through screening. Transfusion. 2013 Jan 30. doi: 10.1111/trf.12097. [Epub ahead of print]

Salmonella

• A recent MMWR Notes from the Field reports on the multistate outbreak of Salmonella Bredeney infections linked to Sunland peanut butter. A total of 41 cases of Salmonella Bredeney infections were identified in 20 states.
  • MacDonald JK, Julian E, Alvina C, Dion J, Boden W, Viazis S, et al. Notes from the Field: Salmonella Bredeney Infections Linked to a Brand of Peanut Butter – United States, 2012. MMWR. 62(06); 107-107.

To view previous issues of CDC's Food Safety GovDelivery, please visit the CDC Food Safety Spotlight page.