The CDC reports: Shigellosis is a nationally notifiable diarrheal illness caused by gram-negative bacteria. Shigella infection is spread through fecal-oral transmission and sexual contact. Although most infections are self-limited, antibiotics are indicated for severe illness or to reduce transmission in settings with high risk for spread. Since 2015, a growing proportion of cases has been caused by […]
It has been a busy morning in the food safety business. I was supposed to do a live interview via TV on CNN, but missed the 5:25 ferry to Seattle (it is actually at 5:20). Thankfully, they let me do a phone in. I am now off to San Francisco to visit with the Rivera […]
I had the pleasure of discussing Salmonella-tainted Eggs the other evening on Larry King Live with several other interesting guests.
Honestly, I am not sure what I would do (or what the public does) without the solid research by Ms. Entis (efoodalert) on her famous “Recall Round-ups” and setting out the scope of this Salmonella Enteriditis outbreak. It is good to know where the eggs are poisoned and the people are sick. Here is Phyllis’s […]
I spoke to Mina Kimes about her article, “Egg recall is a golden opportunity to whip food safety into shape,” that appeared in Fortune and CNN this morning about my view of the need to give the CDC more resources to catch foodborne or bioterrorism outbreak sooner. I had blogged about how needed the new […]
With 550,000,000 eggs being recalled from 18 states and the number of ill flirting with 2,000, we understandably are not only focusing on the “how did it happen?” but, also “how this could have been prevented?” State Ag and Federal (USDA/FSIS and FDA) authorities seem to be going out of their way to let us […]
I did two of the cable channels before 7:00 AM this morning in between doing three radio shows:
In May 2010, CDC identified a nationwide increase in the number of Salmonella Enteritidis isolates with PFGE pattern JEGX01.0004 uploaded to PulseNet, the national subtyping network made up of state and local public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories that performs molecular surveillance of foodborne infections. This increase is evident in the epidemic curve, […]
Friends and enemies say that I have a less than eclectic reading style – I will read most anything that has my name in it. So, although I may well have been attracted by my name in lights (or at least in the article), I stayed for the smack down delivered on one Mr. Austin […]
Yesterday I was speaking with David Hendee of the Omaha World-Herald (along with Larry King, FOX, LA Times, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, KABC, etc.) about the “Eggbarrassment” to the egg industry and to the government for the latest of what seems like a constant stream of foodborne illnesses and food recalls. As I said to David: […]
In between being interviewed by FOX New York, Seattle and Los Angeles and being taped for the Today story for tomorrow, and doing several other radio and TV interviews – one by Skype and preparing for the Larry King Show in an hour, I had the chance to finish up my slides for a speech […]
I am not sure this is something that CNBC does often, and I am not sure how I feel about it. “A strong democratic Iraq will bring stability to the Middle East, and if we see Iraq that’s moving toward that, two, three, five years from now, I think we can call our operations a […]
As I said to the Associate Press yesterday – “The history of ignoring the law makes the sickening of 1,300 and the forced recall of 550 million eggs shockingly understandable.” I was talking about the owner of the largest egg farm at the center of this massive recall and outbreak of Salmonella Enteriditis. As the […]
MARY CLARE JALONICK, of AP, (A.K.A., “the egg gal,”) confirmed this morning what everyone speculated, that “both farms (Hillandale and Wright County Egg) are linked to businessman Austin “Jack” DeCoster, who has been cited for numerous health, safety and employment violations over the years.” She goes further: DeCoster owns Wright County Egg, the original farm […]
I spoke with Alec MacGillis this morning about the 550,000,000 eggs being recalled and the 1,300 people sickened and the company, Wright County Egg, in the middle of it. His story, “Before salmonella outbreak, egg firm had long record of violations,” and the violations he cites is even shocking to me, and I have been […]
Illnesses in at least seven additional people in Minnesota have been connected with an expanded multi-state recall of eggs from an Iowa producer due to contamination with Salmonella. This brings the total number of cases in Minnesota linked to the recall to 14. The additional Salmonella Enteriditis cases were identified as part of a restaurant […]