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CDC published a report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report summarizing the preliminary 2019 data and describes changes in frequency compared with that during 2016–2018 of eight pathogens (Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia)transmitted commonly through food. The incidence of enteric infections caused the eight pathogens continued to increase or remained unchanged. The overall prevalence per 100,000 population was highest for Campylobacter (19.5), followed by Salmonella (17.1), STEC (6.3), Shigella (4.8), Cyclospora (1.5), Yersinia (1.4), Vibrio (0.9), and Listeria (0.3).  Campylobacter and Salmonella caused the largest proportion of illnesses. Infections caused by Salmonella serotype Enteritidis did not decline; however, serotype Typhimurium infections continued to decrease. new strategies that target particular serotypes and more widespread implementation of known prevention measures are needed to reduce Salmonella illnesses. Reductions in Salmonella serotype Typhimurium suggest that targeted interventions (e.g., vaccinating chickens and other food animals) might decrease human infections. FoodNet surveillance data indicate that progress in controlling major foodborne pathogens in the United States has stalled. @ https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6917a1-H.pdf

Recently, multiple outbreaks of COVID-19 among meat and poultry processing facility workers have occurred in the United States. The CDC issued guidelines to the industry, including the configuration of the communal work environments so that workers are spaced at least six feet apart in all directions, if possible. Ideally, modify the alignment of workstations so that workers do not face one another and practice social distancing on breaks. Use physical barriers, such as strip curtains, plexiglass or similar materials, or other impermeable dividers or partitions, to separate meat and poultry processing workers from each other, if feasible. Place handwashing stations or hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol in multiple locations to encourage hand hygiene. Stagger break times or provide temporary break areas and restrooms to avoid groups of workers during breaks. Workers should maintain at least six feet of distance from others at all times, including on breaks. Stagger workers’ arrival and departure times to avoid congregations of workers in parking areas, locker rooms, and near time clocks. CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings as a protective measure. See the CDC link for more details. @ https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/meat-poultry-processing-workers-employers.html

In an open letter published as a full-page ad in Sunday’s New York Times, Washington Post and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Tyson’s chairman John H. Tyson outlined the company response to the ongoing COVI-19 crisis. He hinted that further closures, not only of Tyson Foods facilities but competitors’ facilities as well, would put stress on the nation’s food supply. Tyson’s letter came a week after the company was forced to suspend operation in its largest pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa. The company also temporarily shuttered plants in Indiana, Washington, and another in Iowa. Other companies have also temporary closures of as many as 15 beef and pork plants across the country after as many as 3,300 industry employees were infected with COVID-19, resulting in as many as 17 deaths. And the three big beef and pork production companies are under fire from various union and activist groups, mostly about face masks. About a quarter of the country’s U.S. pork production and 10% of its beef output has now been shuttered. In the letter, the chairman said “As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain,”. “As a result, there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed.” “Farmers across the nation simply will not have anywhere to sell their livestock to be processed, when they could have fed the nation,” the executive wrote. “Millions of animals —chickens, pigs, and cattle— will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities,” he added. “The food supply chain is breaking.” “In addition to meat shortages, this is a serious food waste issue,” Tyson claimed. “The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply,” Kenneth M. Sullivan, of Smithfield, said in a media release. @ https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/food-supply-chain-breaking-tyson-foods-chairman-claims-plant-coronavirus-closures

Researchers led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign electrical and computer engineering professor Brian Cunningham and bioengineering professor Rashid Bashir, reported (the journal Lab on a Chip) that they created an inexpensive, sensitive Smartphone-based testing device for viral and bacterial pathogens that takes about 30 minutes to complete. The team reported that the ~$50 Smartphone accessory could reduce testing required by laboratories during a pandemic such as COVID-19. The study goal was to detect a panel of viral and bacterial pathogens in horses, including those that cause severe respiratory illnesses similar to those presented in COVID-19. The new device is comprised of a small cartridge containing testing reagents and a port to insert a nasal extract or blood sample, that clips to a Smartphone. Inside the cartridge, the reagents break open the pathogen’s outer shell to gain access to its RNA. A primer molecule then amplifies the genetic material into many millions of copies in about 10 or 15 minutes. The RNA strands are stained by a fluorescent dye and the copies and glow green when illuminated by blue LED light, which detected by the Smartphone’s camera. “This test can be performed rapidly on passengers before getting on a flight, on people going to a theme park or before events like a conference or concert,” Cunningham said. There are a few preparatory steps currently performed outside of the device, and the team is working on a cartridge that has all of the reagents needed to be a fully integrated system. @ https://phys.org/news/2020-04-inexpensive-portable-detector-pathogens-minutes.amp