In the news

Morbidity and mortality reports that among 23 states reporting COVID-19 outbreaks in meat and poultry processing facilities, 16,233 cases in 239 facilities occurred, including 86 (0.5%) COVID related deaths. Among 14 states reporting the total number of workers in affected meat and poultry processing facilities (112,616), COVID-19 was diagnosed in 9.1% of workers.  Among 9,919 (61%) cases in 21 states with reported race/ethnicity, 87% occurred among racial and ethnic minority workers. Commonly reported interventions and prevention efforts at facilities included implementing worker temperature or symptom screening and COVID-19 education, mandating face coverings, adding hand hygiene stations, and adding physical barriers between workers. The proportion of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections among meat and poultry processing workers was 11.2%. High population-density workplace settings such as meat and poultry processing facilities present ongoing challenges to preventing and reducing the risk for COVID transmission. @ https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6927e2.htm

Tyson Foods currently relies on about 122K workers to produce about 20% of chicken, beef, and pork produced in the U.S. Due to the coronavirus pandemic Tyson is pushing further into robotics, developing an automated deboning system destined to handle some of the roughly 39M chickens it processes each week. Pilgrim’s Pride the second-largest U.S. chicken processor, deboning machines now trail humans by only 1% – 1.5%, in terms of meat yield per chicken. “Everybody’s thinking about automation, and it’s going to increase,” said Decker Walker, a managing director with Boston Consulting Group, who works with meatpackers. @ https://seekingalpha.com/amp/news/3590102-pandemic-meatpackers-thinking-automation

The CDC, along with FDA and state and local partners continue to investigate a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections linked to salad products that were made by Fresh Express containing iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots and that was sold in several regions of the United States. The investigation includes Fresh Express-branded products as well as products made by Fresh Express for retail store brands sold at ALDI, Giant Eagle, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco, ShopRite, and Walmart. On June 27, 2020, Fresh Express recalled products containing iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, or carrots. The products are branded with the Fresh Express label or store brand labels of ALDI Little Salad Bar, Giant Eagle, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco Signature Farms, ShopRite Wholesome Pantry, and Walmart Marketside. As of July 8, 2020, a total of 509 people with laboratory-confirmed Cyclospora infections associated with this outbreak have been reported from 8 states: Illinois (151), Iowa (160), Kansas (5), Minnesota (63), Missouri (46) Nebraska (48), North Dakota (6), and Wisconsin (30). In Canada, PHAC also issued a notice about the ongoing Cyclospora investigations of the outbreak of Cyclospora infections occurring in three Canadian provinces. Exposure to certain Fresh Express brand salad products containing iceberg lettuce, carrots, and red cabbage, has been identified as a likely source of the outbreak.@ https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/2020/index.html

A study by Professor Juan José Quereda Torres, in collaboration with researchers from the Pasteur Institute of Paris published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, reveals the mechanism of Listeria invasion of human cells. The researchers inactivated the expression of the 165 most essential genes of the host mammal for the infection by Listeria monocytogenes, and have identified for the first time the factors of the host that modulate the rupture of the vacuole and the cytoplasmic access to epithelial cells. Professor Torres research could make it possible to develop new therapies to treat listeriosis in humans and animals in the future. @ https://ruvid.org/ri-world/new-findings-on-infections-caused-by-listeria/