Grapes, Melons Implicated in Outbreaks / Salmonella serotype senftenberg

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Monday, April 01, 2002 11:01 PM

Grapes, Melons Implicated in Outbreaks /

Salmonella serotype senftenberg

 

MEDLINEplus: Grapes, Melons Implicated in Outbreaks-

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_6812.html -

 

Grapes, Melons Implicated in Outbreaks United Press International

 

 

By ED SUSMAN, UPI Science News Wednesday, March 27, 2002

 

ATLANTA, Mar 26, 2002 (United Press International via COMTEX) --

Investigators said on Tuesday they believe seedless green grapes caused a

salmonella outbreak that sickened 41 people across six Western states last

summer and fall.

 

" We were surprised to find that the outbreak of Salmonella serotype

senftenberg -- MOST OFTEN FOUND IN MEATS and poultry -- was apparently

spread to people through grapes, " said Alicia Cronquist, an epidemic

intelligence officer assigned to the Colorado State Health Department by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The outbreak of S.

senftenberg caused primarily diarrhea and abdominal cramps, she reported

Tuesday at the International Conference on

 

Emerging Infectious Diseases. Symptoms ranged from mild to severe. " Two

teenage girls were sick for several weeks, " she said. The investigators were

unable to track the cause of the outbreak to its origin, but sophisticated

DNA fingerprinting tests showed the strain of S. senftenberg was the same

among samples taken from people infected in California, Colorado, Utah,

Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Cronquist suggested the bacteria may have

infected the fruit during harvesting or in storage before it was

distributed. In another case reported at the meeting, epidemiologists in

California determined precut melons -- cantaloupes, watermelon and

honeydew -- were the likely cause of another Salmonella outbreak, this one

caused by the S. poona serotype. Kris Carter, a fellow with the California

Epidemiologic Investigation Service, interviewed 23 patients who came down

with the S. poona infections in June and July of 2001 and was able to

determine an association with eating melons. " However, we didn't find any

real association until we asked the people if they had eaten precut melons, "

she said. For example, more than half the people who became ill recalled

eating precut cantaloupes. About 40 percent of the people who were ill

remembered eating precut honeydew. In fact, she said, all the people who

developed symptoms who remembered eating honeydew said they ate precut

honeydew. Carter said it is possible the bacteria on the surface of the

melons somehow infected the fruits when it was cut. It also is possible that

because precut melon sits around a while before being eaten, the bacteria

has an opportunity to grow, she said. She said people who want to avoid

infection from fruits should wash them first and eat them soon after

preparation. " We are seeing more of these types of outbreaks in the past

couple of years, " said Jenny Lay, an epidemiologist with the Foodborne and

Diarrheal Disease Branch of the CDC's National Center for Infectious

Diseases. She concurred basic food safety steps -- such as washing food --

could reduce the risk of infections. Other researchers looked at the process

of heating lettuce to increase its shelf life. By dipping iceberg lettuce

into warm water baths, the vegetable resists brown discoloration. However,

Larry Beuchat, research professor of food safety at the University of

Georgia, Athens, found the treatment also apparently facilitates growth of

Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause severe infections, during

storage at refrigeration temperature.

 

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

 

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