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ruth

The outbreak of Salmonella in cantaloupes October-November 2023

The 2023 outbreak of Salmonella in cantaloupes hit the US and Canada in October 2023. It caused 5 deaths in the US and 6 in Canada. As of December 15, 2023, there were 302 people sick in the US and 129 patients hospitalized. There were 153 cases in Canada, with 53 hospitalized. The strains of Salmonella involved are very virulent and rare. The cantaloupes in this outbreak are from Mexico. The Mexican government temporarily closed the cantaloupe processing facility on December 15, 2023. A ripple effect followed due to numerous vendors producing precut products from the recalled cantaloupes. The CDC...

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Why French Lentil & Leek Crumbles frozen Soup caused 393 illness and 133 hospitalizations

In June of 2022, shortly after introducing French Lentil & Leek Crumbles Frozen Soup to the market, the company had received ~500 reports of people getting sick after eating it. Symptoms included gastrointestinal illness and liver and gallbladder dysfunction. Many people that consumed the product were hospitalized. On June 23, 2022, the FDA announced that Daily Harvest has recalled all French Lentil & Leek Crumbles. In October the FDA reported 393 illnesses in 39 states, and 133 hospitalizations. Initial data revealed that tara flour was unique to this product (it had never before been used in any other product sold...

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Artificial tear eye drops caused an outbreak of extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The CDC and its partners are investigating a multistate outbreak of an extremely drug-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to the CDC, the outbreak was caused by artificial tears. The strain is Verona integron-mediated metallo-β-lactamase and Guiana extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (VIM-GES-CRPA). Such a strain was never before been reported in the US. The CDC reported that as of March 14, 2023, 68 patients in 16 states were infected by the rare strain of drug-resistant P. aeruginosa. A cluster of 37 patients was linked to four healthcare facilities. The outbreak caused three deaths, eight patients had vision loss, and four had surgical removal...