NO ILLNESSES HAVE BEEN REPORTED

I really think I need to see my doctor about my blood pressure. It rises every time I read a food company recall with that sentence "No illnesses have been reported" particularly when Listeria bacteria are suspected. I wish that the government food safety agencies would insist that the sentence be following by something like: "However, symptoms of Listeriosis may appear as late as a month after eating contaminated food."

In fact, appearance of symptoms can range from a few days to 70 days, and occasionally even longer. Or, you may have Listeriosis but not really feel sick at all. So what should you be on the lookout for?

If you are a relatively healthy adult, who is not pregnant, you may come down with fever, nausea, stiff neck, weakness, diarrhea and muscle aches. You may not have all these symptoms and you could dismiss it a case of the flu. In fact symptoms of a Listeria infection can be so mild that you won't notice them at all. That is the case if you are pregnant. Sadly, the baby may die before birth or come down with a life-threatening infection soon after birth. The symptoms in a newborn may be quite mild too and easily confused with some other problem. Perhaps nothing more than a little irritability, fever, little interest in feeding and some vomiting.

While most Listeria infections in adults tend to be very mild, they can get serious for older people or those with a weakened immune system, leading to complications such as septicemia or meningitis. So do be careful, particularly if you are in a high risk group. Right now, you should be checking any cheeses in your refrigerator against those that are being recalled (press the Recall link on this blog).

TSF

ACTION TO STOP THE CUCUMBER-LINKED OUTBREAK

This cucumber-associated outbreak of food borne illnesses in multiple countries in Europe is really frightening, mainly, because of the virulence of the hemorrhagic E. coli involved. A large percentage of people - around three fourths women - are not just having a few miserable days with diarrhea, but actually developing complications of Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and ending up in the hospital. As of today, at least ten have died. There will be more.

But don't panic. Action is being taken all over Europe to stop the outbreak of illnesses. Everywhere, the culprit food (that is, if it's only the Spanish cucumbers) is being withdrawn from the market - Germany, the Czech Republic, Luxemburg, Hungary and elsewhere. National authorities everywhere in Europe are checking what was imported, where it went, and trying to catch every vegetable before any more people eat them. The public is also being advised not to eat them and restaurants and consumers have been told to throw out any they might have bought.

Restrictions have been imposed on the two suspect Spanish cucumber growers, even before conclusive proof is available that the problem started with them. So, there won't be any more coming in from those sources. In parallel with these activities an investigation is ongoing. Interviews are being done with victims, laboratory testing is being performed on actual vegetables (including others, as well as cucumbers), and every point along the distribution line is being checked and examined for possible failures which could have resulted in contamination.

Assuming we have the right culprit vegetable (and that it's not eggplant or tomatoes or lettuce as well), and assuming that there is no other grower anywhere with the same problem, new illnesses should soon stop occurring since the incubation period for this bacterium is usually less than a week.

But then, there is the problem of secondary illnesses(people becoming ill from someone else - usually a family member - who did eat the food), or other indirect routes, as through swimming pool water (see previous post). Some studies have found around 10% of pathogenic E.coli illnesses to be secondary. But a few case studies I looked at had a higher incidence. Given the rarity of this particular E.coli 0104:H4, we don't really know what will happen.

To your good health!
TSF