Man's death tied to salmonella in Rhode Island

An elderly man who tested positive for salmonella has died, according to Rhode Island officials investigating an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened 39 people.

Six fresh cases were reported on Tuesday and, while the source of contamination has not been determined, pastries from a local bakery were being recalled, said Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.

The man who died was in his 80s and lived in a Warwick nursing home that recently bought pastries from DeFusco's Bakery in Johnston, she said.

Inspectors went to DeFusco's and found cross-contamination and major violations of food handling, she said.

The most likely cause of salmonella was consumption of pastries that came in contact with infected raw eggs, the Health Department said. Pastry shells at DeFusco's had been stored in used egg crates, it said.

Fifteen people were sickened at the nursing home, while the rest of the 39 cases were elsewhere in the community. Twelve people were in hospitals, Beardsworth said.

"What we have now is a group of people who are ill with salmonella," she said. "What we don't have is laboratory-confirmed evidence of a source of contamination.

via health.yahoo.net

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How Vacuuming, Using a Sponge, and Other Daily Habits Can Make You Sick

They say that home is where the heart is. But what you may not know is that it's also where 65% of colds and more than half of food-borne illnesses are contracted. The things we do around the house every day have a big impact on both our long- and short-term health.  Here are six common household activities that may be making you sick.

1. Using a Sponge

The dirtiest room in everybody's home is the kitchen, says Phillip Tierno, PhD, director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at the New York University Langone Medical Center and author of The Secret Life of Germs. "That's because we deal with dead animal carcasses on our countertops and in the sink." Raw meat can carry E. coli and salmonella, among other viruses and bacteria.

Most people clean their countertops and table after a meal with the one tool found in almost all kitchens: the sponge. In addition to sopping up liquids and other messes, the kitchen sponge commonly carries E. coli and fecal bacteria, as well as many other microbes. "It's the single dirtiest thing in your kitchen, along with a dishrag," says Tierno.

Ironically, the more you attempt to clean your countertops with a sponge, the more germs you're spreading around. "People leave [the sponge] growing and it becomes teeming with [millions of] bacteria, and that can make you sick and become a reservoir of other organisms that you cross-contaminate your countertops with, your refrigerator, and other appliances in the kitchen," Tierno explains.

via webmd.com

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Fast response crucial in outbreaks of food-borne illness, study finds - USATODAY.com

Nearly three years after a nationwide salmonella outbreak that sickened about 1,500 people and claimed two lives, U.S. epidemiologists have learned that speed is of the essence in identifying sources of food contamination and preventing further infection.

But speed requires resources that cost money and, as an editorial accompanying the paper in the Feb. 23 online issue of the

New England Journal of Medicine points out, funds may not be forthcoming.

Although the recently signed Food Safety Modernization Act could help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration respond better to outbreaks of food-borne illness, the reality is that Congress still needs to authorize the money, the editorial stated.

via yourlife.usatoday.com

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