In the news

The CDC reported in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on the multistate outbreak of Salmonella traced back to Jule’s cashew brie. The product was recalled on April 22, 2021. (Lewis K, Vasser M, Garman K, et al. Notes from the Field: Multistate, Multiserotype Outbreak of Salmonella Infections Linked to Cashew Brie — United States, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:589–590.) On March 30, 2021, the Tennessee Department of Health identified two Salmonella Duisburg isolates. The specimens containing the isolates were from two patients who reported eating the same brand of cashew brie at the same restaurant. They identified three additional Salmonella isolates, two from patients in California and one in Florida, closely related genetically to the Tennessee isolates. Outbreak strains of S. Chester, S. Typhimurium, and S. Urbana were included in the investigation. Overall, 20 cases were identified in four states: California (seven S. Typhimurium, three S. Chester, three S. Urbana, two S. Duisburg), Florida (one S. Chester, one S. Duisburg), Maryland (one S. Urbana), and Tennessee (two S. Duisburg). Twenty-three (64%) samples yielded 51 Salmonella isolates, including 19 (95%) of 20 retail samples and four (25%) of 16 samples collected from the production facility. @ http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7221a4

Machine learning was used (Liu, G., Catacutan, D.B., Rathod, K. et al. Deep learning-guided discovery of an antibiotic targeting Acinetobacter baumannii. Nat Chem Biol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-023-01349-8) to develop new antibiotics against Acinetobacter baumannii. This pathogen often displays multidrug resistance. Discovering new antibiotics against A. baumannii has proven challenging through conventional screening approaches. Machine learning allows for the rapid exploration of chemicals, increasing the probability of discovering new antibacterial molecules. Around 7,500 molecules that inhibited the growth of A. baumannii in vitro were screened. Neutral network was used to predict chemical toxicity through computational modeling. This process discovered abaucin, an antibacterial compound with narrow-spectrum activity against A. baumannii. Abaucin could control an A. baumannii infection in a mouse wound model. @ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-023-01349-8.epdf?sharing_token=RWd0NhirFpy2b2BGPZP5v9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PgqDK_eQp8NcAST1F90jpq3WEGXG2Su3RGayoL_4HVm-885WktBHURHlCxulwlcvpyGtITV-DP3D206obw-VwWHxYxnDYB7coCRf0l466lVvYqSrbMGRSnrbQLgtJwzb9l1g8rqpxmCL-4_-k8FciBA9RvvjphptrsdaCOzV6I-g%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.bbc.com

The CFIA reported that Post Foods Canada (Niagara Falls, Ontario) had recalled Post Spoon Sized Shredded Wheat Original branded cereal due to suspected spoilage and possible bacterial and/or viral infection. The recalled product has been sold in 525 gram cardboard boxes in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan and online. @ https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/post-spoon-sized-shredded-wheat-original-brand-cereal-recalled-due-possible-spoilage

In a publication (Rodwell et al., 2023 The epidemiology of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26:H11 (clonal complex 29) in England, 2014–2021. Journal of Infection, vol 86, issue 6, June 2023, 552-562) it is shown that in England, the number of cases of Escherichia coli (STEC) serotype O26:H11 belonging to clonal complex 29 (CC29) has increased over the last 10 years, with the number of notifications in 2021 being eight times that recorded in 2013. This increase is attributed to the increasing number of local hospital laboratories in England that have adopted a PCR approach to GI diagnostics, facilitating their capacity to detect non-O157 STEC serotypes, including STEC O26:H11. However, the PCR implementation attribute to only part of the increase. There has been a year-on-year increase in the notification of cases of STEC O26:H11 in England, except for 2020, when COVID restrictions most likely impacted numbers. @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163445323002062?