Scripps Howard News Service reports that accelerated testing of the meat supply may have caused a significant decline in rates of E. coli infections, but there is still very slow progress against contamination by drug-resistant strains of salmonella. There is also an increasing rate of contamination of shellfish – mainly raw oysters – from a bacterium called vibrio that can be lethal to people with chronic liver problems.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year detected salmonella infections at the rate of 14.7 cases per 100,000 people – more than double the government’s “healthy people” goal. There were similarly high rates of salmonella infections from 2000 to 2003.
Robert Tauxe, chief of the foodborne-disease unit at the CDC in averting outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7, a particularly virulent strain of the common pathogen that can attack the kidneys of young children and has killed some.
Jim Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Foundation, said that there has been a decline of salmonella in ground beef, but that contamination in poultry remains a problem.
The U.S. poultry industry produces about 9 billion birds a year, mainly chicken. U.S. Agriculture Department statistics indicate that about 12 percent of chickens were positive for salmonella in 2001, 11 percent in 2002, and 13 percent in 2003.
Researchers say one reason why outbreaks of food poisoning continue to be a problem is that people aren’t heeding government food-safety warnings, such as avoiding alfalfa sprouts or heating deli meats before eating them.
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E. coli Food Poisoning
What is E. coli and how does it cause food poisoning? Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a highly studied, common species of bacteria that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, so...
E. coli O157:H7
E. coli O157:H7 is a foodborne pathogen that causes food poisoning. E. coli O157:H7 is the most commonly identified and the most notorious Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serotype in...
Non-O157 STEC
Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli can also cause food poisoning. E. coli O157:H7 may be the most notorious serotype of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), but there are at least...
Sources of E. coli
Where do E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) come from? The primary reservoirs, or ultimate sources, of E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 STEC in nature are...
Transmission of and Infection with E. coli
While many dairy cattle-associated foodborne disease outbreaks are linked to raw milk and other raw dairy products (e.g., cheeses, butter, ice cream), dairy cattle still represent a source of contamination...
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