In the news

Between June and October 2020, various agencies investigated a Salmonella Newport foodborne illness outbreak linked to the consumption of red onions supplied by Thomson International of Bakersfield, California. The outbreak caused 1,127 domestic illnesses and 515 reported Canadian cases. It was the largest Salmonella outbreak in over a decade. This outbreak is also significant because the food vehicle, whole red onions, is a raw agricultural commodity that had not been previously associated with a foodborne illness outbreak. The FDA released a report on its findings, including factors that potentially contributed to the Salmonella contamination of red onions. The FDA identified several plausible reasons for contamination that may have contributed to the outbreak. They, including potentially contaminated irrigation water, sheep grazing on adjacent land, signs of animal intrusion including fecal droppings and large flocks of birds that may spread contamination, as well as packing house cleaning and sanitizing practices. A leading hypothesis remained that contaminated irrigation water used in a growing field in Holtville, California, may have led to contamination of the onions. Salmonella isolates from two sediment subsamples and two water subsamples collected during this investigation were genetically related by WGS to clinical isolates from 2016 and 2018 foodborne illness outbreaks (Salmonella Muenchen and Salmonella Montevideo, respectively) associated with the consumption of sprouts. @ https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborne-pathogens/factors-potentially-contributing-contamination-red-onions-implicated-summer-2020-outbreak-salmonella

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is working with local health jurisdictions to respond to a multi-county outbreak of E. coli that might be linked to fresh produce. There are currently six confirmed cases across Benton, King, Snohomish, and Walla Walla counties. Three cases have been hospitalized, and one has developed HUS. DOH is only reporting confirmed cases infected with bacteria that have been genetically linked. However, local health officials may report higher numbers for their counties that include cases still under investigation. Other similar cases are being investigated in Washington State. @ https://www.kxly.com/public-health-officials-investigating-multi-county-e-coli-outbreak/

An article published in Nature (Wibowo, M.C., Yang, Z., Borry, M. et al. Reconstruction of ancient microbial genomes from the human gut. Nature (2021) scientists working with ancient feces describe previously unknown bacteria that might help fight against chronic diseases. The scientists studied microbial genomes from ancient human feces (palaeofaeces) to determine microbiome composition. The feces were very well preserved thanks to the extreme aridity of the desert areas where they were found. Researchers reconstructed a total of 498 microbial genomes and concluded that 181 were from ancient humans. Of those, 61 had not previously been found in other samples. Functional profiling of the palaeofaeces samples reveals a strikingly lower abundance of antibiotic resistance. The study discovered and characterization of previously undescribed gut microorganisms from ancient microbiomes. @ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03532-0

The CDC announced that as of March 11, 2021, this outbreak is over. A total of 22 people were infected with the outbreak strain in 7 states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, New York, Texas, Virginia, and Washington). Illnesses started on December 18, 2020, to January 12, 2021. Of 20 people with information available, 11 were hospitalized. Of 18 people with information, 3 developed HUS. One death was reported from Washington. No source of the outbreak was identified. WGS showed that this outbreak strain was previously linked to various sources, including romaine lettuce and recreational water. @ https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2021/o157h7-02-21/map.html