Measles cases increasing in Britain
Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:49:34 GMTLONDON - The number of cases of measles in Britain is increasing, health authorities said Thursday, as they urged parents to have their children vaccinated against the disease.
According to the Health Protection Agency, there have been 480 confirmed cases of measles in the United Kingdom so far this year.
That compares with a provisional total of 756 cases last year, the highest number recorded since current monitoring began in 1995. "The number of cases is increasing at a higher rate than usual for this time of year," the Health Protection Agency said.
The increase over recent years sets Britain apart from other developed countries, and there have even been cases where the disease has spread from Britain to other countries.
Last year, three cases in the United States were linked to Britain — more than most other countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vaccination rates using the measles, mumps and rubella shot dropped sharply after claims made in 1998 that the vaccine was linked to autism — claims that all credible medical evidence has refuted.
Measles is one of the most infectious diseases, and unless approximately 95 percent of a population is vaccinated, outbreaks are likely. The disease can easily spread across borders. In recent years, Britain's vaccination rate has hovered around 85 percent.
"Over the summer holidays, we have seen more cases of measles being reported than we would normally expect," said Dr. Mary Ramsay, a consultant epidemiologist with the Health Protection Agency.
"Now is the time parents will be buying their children a new school uniform to prepare for the school year ahead, but being prepared to avoid infection is even more important," Ramsay said. Parents should think about adding the MMR vaccine to their back to school to-do list."
New spinach recall tests safety measures
Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:10:07 GMTKING CITY, Calif. - Tough food safety precautions and produce-tracking systems implemented last year after a fatal E. coli outbreak were put to the test when spinach from a produce company came up positive for salmonella bacteria, prompting a new recall.
Metz Fresh LLC of King City issued the recall Wednesday, after salmonella was found during a routine test of spinach it was processing for shipment, company spokesman Greg Larson said.
The recall involved 8,118 cases of spinach, but the company said more than 90 percent of that amount was identified before it reached stores.
"Most of it was stopped instantly, in the shipping channels," Larson said.
Fewer than 1,000 cases were distributed throughout the United States and Canada to be sold in retail and food service packages. There were no reports of illness linked to the tainted spinach.
Larson said Metz Fresh began telling stores and restaurants Aug. 24 not to sell or serve the spinach after a first round of tests came up positive. Wednesday's public recall to consumers came after those tests were confirmed, he said.
Testing and tracking are required by the California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement, which established food safety rules that all participating growers must follow. The agreement evolved from last year's E. coli outbreak that killed three people and sickened 200, prompting the Food and Drug Administration to warn Americans not to eat fresh bagged spinach.
The warning was lifted after the contamination was traced to spinach processed and packed by Natural Selection Foods LLC in San Juan Bautista.
The California agriculture industry, which produces about three-quarters of the nation's lettuce and spinach, took a huge financial hit from the outbreak last September.
Some growers said Metz Fresh's ability to catch the bacteria showed new testing regimes implemented by the industry were working.
"I think the test of the industry is how we react to these types of situations," said grower Joseph Pezzini, who heads the board that administers the new produce safety rules. "No one was harmed by the product and that's important."
Public health experts questioned that assessment.
"The industry has taken some important steps, but they have certainly not solved the problem if we're looking at another major recall a year later," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at the Consumers Union, faulted the produce industry for resisting mandatory government regulations and instead enacting its own leafy green marketing agreement.
Metz Fresh is "certainly to be commended for detecting the problem and issuing the recall, but why wasn't the system set up to test this before it left the plant?" said Halloran, whose nonprofit organization tests food and provides information about threats to consumers.
The California Department of Public Health and the Food And Drug Administration are investigating the Metz Fresh processing facility in King City.
Salmonella sickens about 40,000 people a year in the U.S. and kills about 600.
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On the Net:
Metz Fresh LLC: http://www.metzfresh.com/
