September 2006

Tue 26 Sep 2006

A total of 1324 hepatitis A cases were registered in the region of Plovdiv, Dnevnik newspaper reported.

The hepatitis cases in the city of Plovdiv were 933. The number increased by 17 only for a day.

The majority of the infected people lived in the Roma-populated neighbourhoods of Stolipinovo and Sheker

September 26, 2006
Citizen-Times

Over the past several years, Buncombe County has had several high-profile hepatitis A scares associated with local restaurants.

That makes it an economic as well as a health issue.

Hepatitis A scares do nothing to enhance the area’s appeal as a tourist destination and also discourage locals from eating out. The impact on restaurants can be devastating, as demonstrated a few weeks ago with the closing of Trevi Pasta Seafood & Pizza in Biltmore Forest following the discovery that one of the restaurant’s food service workers had the disease.

The question is: Why do there seem to be a larger number of such scares in our region and what can be done to reduce them? Continue Reading Persistence of hep A cases is worrisome

22.sep.06
Cape Breton Post
Parents are getting letters from a Sydney, Nova Scotia, elementary school advising them how to prevent the transmission of hepatitis A after one of its students and a family member tested positive for the virus.
Dr. Shelly Sarwal, the medical officer of health, said there is no need for panic but people should practise diligent hand-washing to prevent its spread while health professionals search for more cases. Continue Reading Parents warned about hepatitis A

September 22, 2006
The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN)
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/15579143.htm

A local Pizza Hut gave away “thousands” of pizzas in a promotional deal to remedy slumping sales in the aftermath of a hepatitis A diagnosis involving a server at the restaurant last month.
Coventry Pizza Hut, near Interstate 69 and U.S. 24, had a line extending into its parking lot and a parking lot overflowing with cars Thursday, said Dave Bobilya, chief financial officer for Pizza Hut of Fort Wayne Inc. That was the last day customers could use a coupon included with a letter of community appreciation that ran in a full-page ad in the Sept. 10 editions of The Journal Gazette.
“There’s just been so much demand,” said Bobilya, who declined to give specific sales figures. A medium one-topping pizza typically costs Continue Reading Demand high for free pizza after scare

Wed, Sep. 20, 2006

The FDA’s alarm is extreme, area farmers say, and threatens their harvest this month.
By Edward Colimore, Michael Klein and Dianna Marder
Inquirer Staff Writers

Farmer Jamie Graiff of Gloucester County surveys his crop of baby leaf spinach. Usually, he would sell 14,000 pounds a week. As the Food and Drug Administration urges consumers to avoid all fresh spinach – bagged, bunched, organic, and otherwise – local farmers say the FDA actions may be unnecessarily extreme.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey farmers are poised to harvest their crops as early as this week, but supermarkets in both state are not buying in the wake of a particularly nasty outbreak of E. coli contamination.

The grocery shelves have been stripped, and the restaurant associations in both states say spinach should be off the menu entirely for now. Continue Reading Local spinach pinch

September 19, 2006

Ontario Inland Valley Bulletin (CA)

Joe Blackstock

POMONA — Individuals who ate at a north Pomona restaurant in August are being urged by county officials to get tested for acute Hepatitis A if they suffer from symptoms of the disease.
Three patrons, who ate at the Senor Baja eatery at 320 E.

Sep 18, 2006

(CBS) POMONA, Calif. Three people who ate at a Pomona restaurant last month have been diagnosed with acute hepatitis A, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Monday.

Health officials are working with Senior Baja, located at 320 E. Foothill Blvd., to identify the source of the disease.

The restaurant remains open because a recent inspection by the Department of Public Health did not find an ongoing source of potential infection.

People who ate at Senor Baja in August and develop symptoms of hepatitis A before Oct. 1 — including jaundice, fever, light colored stools or dark urine — should contact their doctor. Continue Reading Pomona Restaurant Linked To Hepatitis-A Outbreak

By MARIAN BURROS
September 16, 2006
The outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to prepackaged fresh spinach is the latest in an increasing number of food-borne illnesses from fruits and vegetables.

Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer for the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration, said the evidence so far suggested that those who became ill had eaten the spinach uncooked.

But the agency has issued a blanket warning, recommending that consumers throw out all prepackaged fresh spinach rather than cooking it because of the chance of cross-contamination. Health officials are concerned that, out of the package, the bacteria could contaminate other foods that are eaten raw. Continue Reading Produce Is Growing Source of Food Illness

September 18, 2006
by Rebecca Prescott

Travelers visiting many tropical, sub-tropical and developing countries run an increased risk of suffering a gastrointestinal illness. These are usually caused by bacteria, parasites and viruses. The microscopic bugs at the top of these rather gut wrenching (for all the wrong reasons…) charts are E Coli, the staphylococci, shigella and salmonella species, campylobacter jejuni, cryptosporidiosis, and hepatitis A. Continue Reading Herbal Remedies To Prevent Travelers Diarrhea

September 15, 2006

SAMS GAP, NC — A farmer’s contaminated spring is the suspected cause of a hepatitis A outbreak, in which four cases have been confirmed and 10 are under investigation, according to a September 15 story in the Citizen Times.

The farmer’s crops that were watered with the spring water were burned and