ZOLMAX NEWS

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An E-coli outbreak of a form that is less common has sickened over 14 people in six states. The outbreak also claimed the life of a New Orleans girl who was just 21 months old, said the Centers for Disease Control. Through Friday, health officials in California, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Georgia had reported cases of the strain Shiga-toxin-producing E.Coli O145. The form that is more common is O157:H7. The first reported illness was on April 15, with the most recent being June 4, said the CDC.

E-Coli infections can take as long as three weeks from the start of a patient’s illness until confirmation that the patient is part of the outbreak. Up to now, there has been no known source of the recent outbreak. Officials from state health offices are interviewing people who have been ill to obtain information as to the foods they had eaten and other forms of exposure during the week prior to their illness.

The strain Shiga-toxin usually manifests as an illness between two and eight days from the time the person ingested the bacteria. Most sufferers develop a watery and bloody diarrhea along with abdominal cramps. Most of the time the illness will resolve itself with a week, but some cases can be more severe and last longer.

Most people fully recover but in rare cases, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome develops which is a form of kidney failure. HUS could occur in anyone, of any age but is most often found in children less than five and in the elderly.

Since there is still no source from the outbreak, officials are not able to warn anyone about how to avoid it. Daily preventative measures such as washing your hands, cooking meats completely and not drinking raw milk are good ways to avoid the sickness.

E. Coli Contaminated Chickens Linked to Urinary Tract Infections

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According to a report in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bacteria causing urinary tract infections may come from E. coli contaminated chickens.

As many as 85 percent of urinary tract infections are caused by E. coli, according to the report.

HealthDay explains researchers compared the genetic fingerprints of E. coli from these infections to that of E. coli from chicken, beef and pork. And they found that the infections originated directly from the chickens, not from human contamination during food processing.

Researchers tested 320 samples of beef, pork and chicken, and found that E. coli isolates from beef and pork were significantly less likely than those from chicken to be genetically related to isolates from humans with UTIs.

Study author Amee Manges said Chicken may be a reservoir for the E. coli that cause infections like urinary tract infections.

“We then tested whether the reservoir for ExPEC in humans could be food animals themselves by comparing geographically and temporally matched E. coli isolates from 475 humans with UTIs and from cecal contents of 349 slaughtered animals. We found genetic similarities between E. coli from animals in abattoirs, principally chickens, and ExPEC causing UTIs in humans. ExPEC transmission from food animals could be responsible for human infections, and chickens are the most probable reservoir.”

Manges is also concerned about the selection and amplification of drug-resistant E. coli on the farms because of improper or overuse of antimicrobials during food animal production. “It may be possible to reduce the level of drug-resistant infections in humans by encouraging rational and judicious use of antimicrobials on farms,” Manges said.

“We just want to emphasize that it isn’t just inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine that matters, but also the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine and food production that leads to greater drug-resistant bugs,” the study author added.

Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said it is not surprising that the food supply, especially chicken, may play a role in causing urinary tract and other infections. He said the best protection begins with proper hygiene.

Dr. Tierno emphasized that the solution is definitely not to throw more antibiotics at livestock, and added: “As far as preventing E. coli in chicken coops, we need a better system developed to raise chickens so they are not raised in crowded conditions and prone to diseases like E. coli.”

“If you practice good personal hygiene, good food hygiene and good home hygiene, we can reduce the number of infections,” he suggested.

Tierno warned proper hand washing should last for 20 seconds. “Wash in between your fingers and under your nails,” he said. “When dealing with counter surfaces, use a product that can disinfect surfaces and prevent cross-contamination.”

“During the past decade, the emergence of drug-resistant E. coli has dramatically increased,” the authors wrote. “As a consequence, the management of UTIs, which was previously straightforward, has become more complicated; the risks for treatment failure are higher, and the cost of UTI treatment is increasing.”