Version User Scope of changes
Jan 23 2009, 10:23 AM EST (current) jacqie 2082 words added
Jan 23 2009, 10:00 AM EST jacqie

Changes

Key:  Additions   Deletions

December


Guyana - Leptospirosis
28 Dec 2008
Livinguyana [edited] [Promed]
Nearly 70 people have been diagnosed with leptospirosis, a disease spread through exposure to water contaminated with the urine of animals. Health workers on Sunday [28 Dec 2008] distributed antibiotics to contain an outbreak of a waterborne bacterial disease in coastal Guyana, where December rains have flooded low-lying villages and cultivated fields. Knee-deep water stands in several villages east of Guyana's capital after rains started flooding the area 2 weeks ago.
Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy told reporters that officials were closely monitoring the flood-hit towns and will evacuate anyone showing symptoms of the infection, which include fever, chills, vomiting and kidney failure. He urged people with symptoms of the potentially fatal disease to seek help immediately.
[12.3.004 A]

Chile – Amnesic Shellfish toxin (Atacama)
26 Dec 2008
RPP, Peru [in Spanish, trans. & summ. Mod.JW] [edited] [Promed]
Health authorities in the northern Chilean region of Atacama ordered a ban on collecting shellfish after detecting amnesic toxin in a section of coastline of the area, official sources reported today [26 Dec 2008]."So far no people have been affected," said the Regional Secretary of Health, who said that the area at risk is located near the Sugar Loaf, about 1000 km [about 620 miles] north of Santiago [the capital].The toxin is, according to experts, also known as domoic acid, produced by some varieties of plankton consumed by shellfish, in a similar way to other poisons in the so-called red tide. When the toxin is consumed by humans it can cause gastrointestinal and neurological problems and short term memory loss, as it damages hippocampal cells and in the most severe cases can lead to death.
The Regional Secretary of Health said that, according to laboratory tests, a concentration of 20 micrograms per gram [of body weight] of shellfish toxin is fatal for mice, and [shellfish] samples from the Sugar Loaf area had concentrations of up to 198.5 micrograms per gram.
When people ingest it, the authority said that [the symptoms] can start with vomiting and diarrhea, and later neurological symptoms, then "it erases the hard drive, i.e., it erases short-term memory and can lead to death when the intake is abundant," he said.
It is also reported that the toxin is not eliminated by cooking the seafood, so the only useful measure is not to eat bivalve mollusks from areas where the toxin has been detected.
[12.3.003 A]

Chile - Authorities warn about seafood consumption
17 Dec 2008
Mercopress [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, Chilean Congress members have asked the Ministry of Public Health to declare a “sanitary emergency in the south of the country” given the massive sea food poisoning contaminated with the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.
The president of the Health Committee said that “228 cases so far in a few days, more than justifies declaring a sanitary emergency, and must not be seen as alarmist but rather an opportunity for health authorities to have the right tools to address the issue from its roots”.
“We’re not asking people not to consume sea food, molluscs, but rather to do it in a responsible way,” he explained. Chilean authorities have warned about the consumption of raw seafood, mainly in the southern regions of Maule and Biobio, where the outbreak is most intense. However, it is reported that minister Erazo said that in spite of the number of cases, “compared to previous years we have a steady decrease in reported sea food poisoning cases, so I wouldn’t say we have been that remiss”.
[12.3.002 A]

Chile - Aproqueso denies further Listeria cases in products from other companies
03 Dec 2008
El Mercurio Online [edited][iFSN]
The head of the Association of Cheese Producers (Aproqueso), Alfredo Albarrán, stated today that according to analyses that have been performed, there are no cases of Listeria monocytogenes in any other companies apart from Chevrita. The manager explained that the companies involved were prompted to take actions to confront the situation, performing tests and taking preventative measures. "In the identification process, we have incorporated an analysis of Listeria monocytogenes into the weekly analysis procedures at the plant. Really, we have not been able to detect the presence of Listeria in the milk, which means that the contamination must have been caused by mixing raw milk with pasteurized milk," he declared.
Related stories
17 Dec 2008 - Authorities warn about seafood consumption
Mercopress [edited] [iFSN]
Three other brands of cheese from the company Chevrita have been withdrawn from shelves fearing further cases of listeriosis, according to Public Health ministry officials.
Last December first sanitary officials banned the sale and distribution of dairy produce from the brands Chevrita, Las Pircas and Lescure, following the discovery that 59 samples of Brie and Camembert cheese contained Listeria Monocytogenes.
A total of 108 cases of listeriosis have been reported in Santiago de Chile.
27 Nov 2008 – 5 deaths linked to an outbreak of listeriosis
Yahoo Noticias, Agencia EFE report
[in Spanish, trans. CopyEd.MJ, edited] [Promed]
The Chilean Ministry of Health reported today [27 Nov 2008], that the number of deaths in the capital [Santiago] caused by an outbreak of listeriosis detected in Brie Lescure cheese has reached 5. The new report indicates that the 5 deaths occurred in one newborn, one young boy, 2 adults, and one immunocompromised person (the most recent victim.) Health authorities ordered the recall of Brie Lescure cheese after the bacterium [Listeria monocytogenes ] was detected in a sample taken from the refrigerator of a 60-year-old man who contracted the disease. According to the official report, to date 91 ill persons have been registered, of which 42 percent are pregnant women, the group at greatest risk. Of the total number of infected patients, 59 percent are residents of the municipalities of Las Condes & Vitacura, in the eastern section of Santiago.
Between 20 and 25 cases of listeriosis are [routinely] reported annually in Chile, but so far in 2008 there have been 91 cases. The head of the Chilean Public Health Institute reports that currently between 2 and 3 cases of listeriosis are being reported per week.
Chile - Listeriosis scare prompts to pull brie
25 Nov 2008
The Associated Press [edited][iFSN]
According to this story, Chilean officials are ordering a recall of a brie cheese suspected of causing a Listeria outbreak that has killed four people. The health ministry says investigators are trying to determine if Brie Lescure cheese made by the Chilean-French Chevrita Company is responsible for an outbreak of the disease that also has sickened about 90 people. The Chevrita manager said Tuesday the company is conducting its own investigation and he says the recall is "just a precaution." He said the brie "is made with pasteurized milk and the bacteria does not resist pasteurization."
[12.3.001 A]

November


Argentina – Salmonellosis (Rio Negro)
8 Nov 2008
Diario al Dia [in Spanish, trans., summ., edited] [Promed]
In Viedma, a 9-year old child was referred to an emergency health center in Bahia Blanca, after being confirmed at the hospital Artemide Zatti of Viedma to have contracted the so-called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Meanwhile, another 13 people were treated days ago in the local hospital for cases of Salmonella infection. Salmonellosis was manifested in 2 isolated cases and a family outbreak that affected 3 people, as seen in laboratory studies. Meanwhile, another family outbreak is affecting 8 persons. With regard to this outbreak, while not confirmed, the hospital suspects that the food that caused the disease was insufficiently cooked pork. The 9 year old boy with HUS was transferred to a pediatric nephrology center in Bahia Blanca.
[11.3.003 A]

Brazil - Three people are interned at a hospital after eating ice cream in a mall of São Paulo.
5 Nov 2008.
Globo.com [edited] [provided and translated from Portuguese by Maria Carolina Minardi Guimarães ]
A cleaning assistant who works at the Morumbi Shopping Mall, in the South Zone of São Paulo, was hospitalized on Saturday (November 1st ) at the Santa Cecília Hospital, with symptoms of food poisoning. According to a spokeperson for the shopping mall, two other people got sick on Thursday (October 30th ), after eating an ice cream at McDonald's. McDonald’s refused to recognize the relationship between the consumption of food at one of its restaurant and the incident. McDonald’s informed the public that on the same day, 958 people had taken the ice cream and none had registered problems. The three women, all cleaning workers at the same shopping Mall, got sick and ask for help at the company medical clinic on October 30th . They said that they started to feel sick after eating the McDonalds ice cream. According to the hospital, the three women were presenting serious symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting at the time of their admittance.
[11.3.002 A]

Brazil - 300 people are interned at a hospital in Bahia with symptoms of food poisoning
2 Nov 2008
Globo.com [edited] [provided and translated from Portuguese by Maria Carolina Minardi Guimarães ]
Employees of a shoe company presenting stomach aches, diarrhea and vomiting symptoms, have been admitted to an hospital in Bahia. 50 professionals, (doctors, nurses, policemen and volunteers), have been mobilized to take care of these patients.
An ambulatory ward had to be improvised in the corridors of the hospital. Employees of the company informed the media that some other workers of the same company have had the same symptoms for more than one week. The doctors suspect food poisoning. The hospital informed, also, that samples of the water and food served by the shoes company to its employees were collected by the Sanitary Agency.
[11.3.001 A]

July


Argentina - Trichinellosis, salami (Santa Fe)
22 Jul 2008
NOTIFE (Argentina) - La Capital report [edited] [iFSN]
According to this story, at least 20 people from this city [Canada de Gomez, province of Santa Fe] and neighbouring locations, such as Armstrong and Parejas, have been hospitalized because they had symptoms of trichinellosis. It is reported that some cases have already been confirmed by laboratory tests and that patients (all were members of the same family, or clusters of families, or close friends) declared they ate packaged salami which had been bought in the same store in this city. The minister of health reassured the population, declaring that "this product is no longer available in stores", and added that if this product, manufactured a month ago, were found now, it might not be fit for human consumption. The Food Safety office, along with SENASA (National Service for Agricultural and Alimentary Sanitation, Spanish initials) are also investigating the pork farm where the infected animals came from. SENASA officers pointed out that, in general, in these cases pork is brought from illegal farms with poor sanitary conditions and the presence of many other animals, such as rats.
[07.3.001 A]

February


Chile - Health authorities confiscate "crappy" milk
07 Feb 2008
Santiago Times - Victoria Bolf [edited]
Eighty-six of 125 tons of milk contaminated with fecal coliforms and other pathogens have, according to this story, been confiscated by Metropolitan Region health authorities and declared unfit for human consumption. The story says that one of the executives of the responsible company has been arrested and formally charged for the act. The milk, which originally came from Uruguay and was intended for animal consumption, was purchased by a Chilean importer, bottled, and distributed between June and September 2007 to about 50 businesses which then used it to make candies, dairy desserts, cheese, chocolates and other products. The pathogens found in the milk – fecal coliforms, staphylococcus aureus (“golden staph”), and aerobic mesophiles – can cause sickness and sometimes death in humans.
[02.3.001 A]

January


Bolivia - 4th case of hantavirus [infection] in Cochabamba
28 Jan 2008
Los Tiempos [in Spanish, edited]
A resident of Villa Tunar died this past Saturday [26 Jan 2008], from irreversible damage to his body caused by the fatal hantavirus disease, according to a reliable source in the Bolivian-Japanese Gastroenterology Institute. However, the director of the Departmental [state equivalent] Health Services (SEDES) did not confirm hantavirus [infection] as the cause of death, but acknowledged that is a suspected [hantavirus] case because the symptoms are very similar [to those caused by] this fatal disease. He added that if this suspected case turns out to be positive for hantavirus [infection] it would confirm the 3rd death of people dying of fatal hantavirus infection; an additional patient is in the process of recuperation.
[01.3.001 A]