Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Spike in diarrhoeal diseases? What's happening?

Unbeknownst to many, and almost slipping under the radar screen, is this spike in diarrhoeal diseases over the last 2 weeks. I wonder what's going on?
The MOH report just indicates salmonellosis as the bug; 26 over the last week. No new reports of specific food poisoning outbreaks in the media. But we've crossed the epidemic threshold for 2 weeks already.

Someone tell us something!!

2 comments:

Paul Ananth said...

A bit old but could this be some kind of food borne outbreak???

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ArchiveRecalls/2009/ucm128334.htm

Abbott Nutrition Announces Voluntary Recall of ZonePerfect® Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, ZonePerfect® Peanut Toffee Bars and NutriPals™ Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars in U.S., Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore


Contact:
Abbott Nutrition Consumer Relations
(800) 986-8884



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 19, 2009 -- Abbott Nutrition today announced that it is initiating a precautionary, voluntary recall of ZonePerfect® Chocolate Peanut Butter bars, ZonePerfect® Peanut Toffee bars and NutriPals™ Peanut Butter Chocolate bars in response to the widening recall involving peanut butter and peanut paste ingredients manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). PCA was one of the peanut ingredient suppliers to the company.

The specified Abbott Nutrition items, sold in the U.S. and internationally (Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore) in various packages and quantities, have not been linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak and there have been no reported cases of the salmonella illness associated with ZonePerfect or NutriPals products. Abbott Nutrition tests every lot of finished ZonePerfect and NutriPals bars for salmonella and no salmonella contamination has been detected. This voluntary recall does not apply to Abbott Nutrition products sold in Canada.

Abbott Nutrition's action to issue a voluntary recall was supported by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's advisement to manufacturers of an ongoing outbreak of salmonella involving peanut butter and peanut paste supplied by PCA. No other Abbott Nutrition products have been impacted by the PCA recall.

As part of its priority to ensure the safety and quality of all of its products, Abbott is issuing the voluntary recall. Abbott is working with retail partners to remove the specified products from retail store shelves and encouraging customers and consumers to verify if they have the specified products.

Consumers who have purchased the recalled products are urged to destroy the product. U.S. consumers with questions or who would like a refund may contact Abbott Nutrition Consumer Relations at (800) 986-8884, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Consumers with questions or concerns about their health should contact their doctor.

Products impacted by the voluntary withdrawal are as follows:

ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter bars, all sizes and quantities
ZonePerfect Peanut Toffee bars, all sizes and quantities
NutriPals Peanut Butter Chocolate nutrition bars, all sizes and quantities
Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. For more information on Salmonella, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Website at http://www.cdc.gov.

gigamole said...

Interesting thought. Perhaps some of those got left behind despite the recall.