Clostridium difficile bacterium Now in Meat Supply

[William Kanitz]

Scientists investigating whether C. diff can be caught by eating meat
19:00:25 EDT Oct 3, 2006
Canadian Press: HELEN BRANSWELL
TORONTO (CP) - Scientists in Canada and the United States are exploring the unsettling question of whether C. difficile can be contracted by eating meat after finding evidence of infection in food animals, including dairy calves in Ontario.

A new study by researchers at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph supports the idea, even revealing that the bacterium has already been isolated from meat in the retail food system.

The study further shows that a strain of Clostridium difficile that has caused severe hospital outbreaks in Quebec, Britain and parts of the U.S. has been found it the feces of dairy calves in Ontario. Earlier U.S. studies have found other strains of C. difficile in piglets.

Scientists admit they don't know whether people can become infected and develop C. difficile-associated disease through eating meat containing the bacterium. But it's important to find out, they say.

The senior author of the Guelph study suggests the issue boils down to two key questions.

"If it's in the animal can it make it into retail meat? And if it's in retail meat, can it cause disease?" Dr. Scott Weese, a veterinarian who specializes in diseases that pass between animals and humans, said in an interview Tuesday.

Weese and his co-authors admit - in rather vague terms - that they think they know the answer to the first question.

"Although C. difficile is not considered a foodborne pathogen, it has been identified in . . . retail meat from grocery stores in Ontario," they wrote in their article, to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The study notes that finding has not yet been published in the scientific literature. And Weese would not go into detail, saying a scientific article detailing that work is in the publication pipeline.

But he cautioned that it's too soon to conclude that the presence of the bacterium in meat automatically means people can contract C. difficile-associated diarrhea by chowing down on a burger or a pork chop.

"What does ingesting a few C. diff spores mean to a person? That's completely unclear," Weese said.

Scientists and officials in the field of public health would dearly love to find out, however. Several key U.S. agencies - the Food and Drug Administration, the Food Safety and Inspection Service and the National Institutes of Health - are actively following the research, some of which is being done at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

That agency's lead expert on C. difficile is cautious about drawing a link between food and the disease at this point.

"It's something we're actively looking at. Too soon to say," said Dr. Clifford McDonald.

But the University of Arizona scientist who found the bacterium in pigs said it's hard to believe food isn't a potential source for some people.

"It is being looked at, that's for sure," said Glenn Songer, a veterinary microbiologist. "Looking at it from where we are now, I can't see any reason why that wouldn't be the case."

C. difficile has been traditionally thought of as an infection acquired in hospitals, where antibiotic use is rife. Antibiotics are known to upset the bacterial balance of the human gut, which can allow C. difficile to take root and flourish.

But increasingly researchers are discovering cases of C. difficile disease in people how haven't been hospitalized, begging the question: How did they contract the bacterium? Suspicion has been turning to the food supply.

The article by Weese and his colleagues reported on their effort to see if they could find C. difficile in calves in Ontario. They tested feces samples from 278 calves from 102 farms in the spring and summer of 2004, finding C. difficile spores in 31 calves (11 per cent).

Eight different strains of C. difficile were isolated, including the one blamed for hundreds of deaths in Quebec, Britain and parts of the U.S. The authors said the cattle strains were "indistinguishable" from those that have infected humans.

Weese said several different possibilities could be at play.

"It could be that these strains have evolved in parallel in different species. It could be that there was a single event where they moved from one species to another and it's not an ongoing problem. Or it could be that there is regular movement of various types of C. difficile between different species in all directions.

"And we need to figure out which one of those is most likely - and the clinical relevance of that too."

A number of scientists studying the question acknowledge that they may just now be seeing something that has existed all along, something no one bothered to look for until severe hospital outbreaks revved up interest in the bug.

Jon Brazier, a microbiologist with the National Public Health Service of Wales, suspects that may be the case. Brazier and some colleagues looked for C. difficile in the environment about a decade ago. "We found it in rivers, lakes, even in sea water. Swimming pools," he said from Cardiff.

"My feeling is we all occasionally ingest C. diff spores of various types from time to time. And they don't do us any harm unless we happen to have our gut flora disturbed by antibiotics or indeed some other risk factors."

 

[PORKER]

"If it's in the animal can it make it into retail meat? And if it's in retail meat, can it cause disease?" Dr. Scott Weese, a veterinarian who specializes in diseases that pass between animals and humans, said in an interview Tuesday.

Are we safe from anything, Spinach beef carrots pork chicken tomatoes raspberries lamb ,venision, fish ,clams - pick your number and step right up ,eating food can kill you !

 

[Murgen]

eating food can kill you !

Yep, better go on a strict diet, no food allowed at all.

 

[PORKER]

Yes Murgen ,we are when we can access a product record.

 

[William Kanitz]

15.oct.06
Toronto Star
Helen Branswell, Canadian Press
C. difficile bacteria have, according to this story, been found in a variety of ground and processed meats bought from grocery stores in Canada and the United States, an unexpected discovery some experts say may be linked to recent baffling changes in the pattern of the disease.
Some of the U.S. meats contained the hypervirulent C. difficile strain responsible for severe outbreaks in hospitals in Quebec, Britain and parts of the U.S. over the past few years, The Canadian Press has learned. In Quebec alone, the so-called epidemic strain is blamed for roughly 2,000 deaths in 2003 and 2004.
Though still largely a plague of the elderly in hospitals, C. difficile-associated
disease has undergone unexplained shifts of late -- some deaths in younger people, more infections outside the hospital. At the same time there has been a rapid spread of the epidemic strain across North America and to Europe.
Experts keen to figure out what's going on with this bug say the meat finding may provide a clue and must be explored.
Dr. Dale Gerding, of Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital in Chicago, who was not involved in the research, was quoted as saying, "I don't think we know what it means, but it's a serious concern and it could potentially be contributing to cases, not only in the community but in hospitals as well."
But it is too early to conclude people can develop the severe, recurrent and sometimes fatal C. difficile diarrhea by eating meat containing the bacterium, Gerding and other experts insisted.
Dr. Clifford McDonald of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, was quoted as saying, "The bottom line is that we don't have any evidence to say that C. difficile is a foodborne illness, that people get it from foods."
The story explains that two teams of researchers -- under Dr. Glenn Songer at the University of Arizona and Dr. Scott Weese at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph -- found C. difficile spores in some samples of ground beef, veal, turkey and pork, pork sausage, chorizo, summer sausage and liverwurst.
Nearly 30 per cent of the meats tested in Arizona and 18 per cent tested in Ontario contained C. difficile. The Guelph team did not find the human epidemic strain.
A preliminary report of the Guelph work was to be presented Monday to the World Buiatrics Congress in France. (Buiatrics is the science of treating cattle diseases.)
Each team bought meat over a period of several months from three different grocery stores in Tucson, Ariz., and in the Guelph, Ont., area respectively. The two projects were conducted independently.
The Ontario researchers, who only tested ground beef and ground veal, are currently working on a larger sampling study, including meat bought in Quebec.
Both research teams had already shown C. difficile infects food animals like dairy calves and pigs. And some of the strains found in those animals -- and the sampled meat -- were virtually identical to some that cause disease in humans.
CDC laboratories confirmed the University of Arizona testing.
The CDC's McDonald said it is a matter of "public health urgency" to find out if meat is playing a role in the worsening profile of disease outbreaks.
Weese, whose lab did the Canadian sampling, was cited as saying the fact that C. difficile is a spore-forming bacteria heightens the need for answers. Spores can potentially survive cooking, though exposure to temperatures of 80 C for 10 minutes will kill C. difficile.

 

[William Kanitz]

A potentially fatal bacteria has been found in meats bought in Tucson, triggering a federal investigation to determine if tainted meat is sickening Americans.

The bacteria -- known as Clostridium difficile, or C. diff -- has been around for decades, but until now was linked mainly to infections in elderly hospital patients taking antibiotics, and never with eating any kind of food.

This is the first time C. diff has ever been found in food, specifically in ground meats. A University of Arizona study made the discovery this year after testing samples -- ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey, processed beef and pork products, summer sausage, chorizo and liverwurst -- bought in Tucson grocery stores.

However, state and federal health authorities are strongly stressing that the finding, though alarming and certainly surprising, offers no proof that eating meats carrying the bacteria has made or can make anyone sick.

They say it is possible C. diff has always been in the meat supply to some degree, but has posed no danger.

"The discovery of C. difficile in meats is concerning, and the CDC plans to investigate any links between food and infection with the bacteria," said Jennifer Morcone, spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

"But at this time, there is no epidemiological evidence showing food consumption to be a risk factor for C. difficile illness. We don't want people to become overly concerned. We are going to conduct our own surveillance of food-borne infections to determine if people have become ill from C. difficile in their food."

The bacteria can cause severe, recurrent and hard-to-treat diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In the worst cases, it can destroy the bowel, and cause death.

Such cases have increased markedly in recent years in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and are showing up among younger, healthy patients who have not been in a hospital or on antibiotics, indicating the bug may be evolving dangerously. Scientists have identified a hypervirulent "epidemic" strain of C. diff they think is causing this phenomenon.

Discovering the bacteria in meats has scientists now wondering if possible food-borne transmission may be playing a role in all this. UA researchers were stunned to find the epidemic strain in several of the meat samples bought and tested in Tucson.

"I was surprised to find difficile at all in meat, but finding the toxic strain of a disease of this importance, well, that was unbelievable," said Dr. Glenn Songer, UA veterinary microbiologist who did the testing.

"This certainly suggests our whole understanding of difficile needs to be re-investigated. At this point, we can't say with certainty this is a food-borne disease, but one way or another we need to find what is causing this in people outside of the hospital, and if there is any connection to what we are eating."

Songer added that his results have not changed his own eating habits, which include meat.

"Not a bit," he said. "It is conceivable a lot of us are cycling difficile through our intestines much of the time without much problem. We need to know a lot more about this before we make any decisions about what we eat. It's far too early to be reacting to this kind of news."

Out of 81 samples of ground meats bought in three unidentified Tucson grocery stores during the past year, Songer found the C. diff bacteria in 30 percent of the samples, and the hypervirulent strain in several of those.

The CDC has retested those samples and confirmed his results, said Dr. Clifford McDonald, a CDC expert in bacterial infections.

"We found these to be the human epidemic strain of C. difficile," McDonald said.

Cases of this dangerous strain -- blamed for jumping C. diff death rates from about 1 percent to more than 8 percent -- have been found in 23 states, including Arizona, McDonald said.

"We are very interested in what the risk factors for this strain are. We want to know the transmission source, whether certain foods are a risk," he said. "We will get the answer, but it's going to take a little bit of time."

Until then, the CDC is advising only that people vigilantly follow the rules for safe handling of meat, especially thorough cooking -- "to the point of complete doneness," he said.

In Arizona, the toxic epidemic strain was identified as the cause of a severe C. diff outbreak a year ago among patients at the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tucson.

"It was significant, and it was a supervirulent strain," said Dr. John Galgiani, infectious disease specialist at the VA. "Our case numbers spiked several-fold. But we got quite aggressive about it, and it's over."

An antibiotic drug given to these patients was identified as the cause of the outbreak and was quickly discontinued, ending the problem, he said.

Use of general antibiotics has been the classic risk factor linked to C. diff illness since the bacteria was discovered 30 years ago. Illness typically develops in elderly hospitalized patients suffering severe illness and given antibiotics, which interfere with the natural flora in the digestive tract, making it possible for the bacteria to grow and flourish.

Cases spread person-to-person within the hospital through oral-fecal contact -- often by hospital workers who fail to properly wash their hands after handling infected patients.

It is only in the last few years that out-of-hospital cases in younger people not on antibiotics have started to appear. They now account for about 20 percent of all C. diff infections in the U.S., McDonald said.

There is no way to know the true case count of C. diff illness, because it is not a reportable disease in Arizona or at the federal level.

Even though an antibiotic was confirmed as the source of the VA outbreak, samples from the VA patients will now be tested to see if they are the same strain found in the UA meat samples.

"If they turn out to be identical, that is not a smoking gun, but it would make the food a suspect in all this," Galgiani said.

There is no reason to think only meat bought in Tucson carries the C. diff bacteria, health official stressed. That finding strongly suggests it exists in some meats throughout the country, and likely much of the world.

 

[Econ101]

We should err on a safe food supply, not the other way around as industry wants.

 

[PORKER]

Wow, Cases of this dangerous strain -- blamed for jumping C. diff death rates from about 1 percent to more than 8 percent -- have been found in 23 states, including Arizona, McDonald said.

"We are very interested in what the risk factors for this strain are. We want to know the transmission source, whether certain foods are a risk," he said. "We will get the answer, but it's going to take a little bit of time."

Until then, the CDC is advising only that people vigilantly follow the rules for safe handling of meat, especially thorough cooking -- "to the point of complete doneness," he said.

 

[Econ101]

You mean I can't safely eat a medium rare steak because APHIS or other USDA regulatory agencies can't keep diseases out of our food supply?

What a price captive agencies impose on our society.

 

[PORKER]

So did a Family farmer create this or a corporation,We want to know the transmission source?

 

[PORKER]

C. difficile outbreak kills nine at Que. hospital
Updated Sat. Oct. 28 2006 12:23 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Doctors are investigating whether a more virulent strain of the C. difficile bacterium is to blame for an outbreak at a Quebec hospital that killed nine people.

Health officials have identified a total of 22 cases at Honore-Mercier Hospital in St-Hyacinthe, about 60 kilometres southeast of Montreal, since late July.

Most of the nine patients who died were elderly and suffered from other ailments, CTV Montreal's Cindy Sherwin reported, adding that the youngest of the group was believed to be 59.

Another 13 patients who have fallen ill are now isolated in single-patient rooms at the hospital, where strict infection control measures are being applied, CTV Montreal reporter Cindy Sherwin said.

While doctors are not certain what caused the outbreak of Clostridium difficile, they have expressed fears it could be a new and more powerful strain.

But Dr. Jocelyne Sauve, director of public health for the Monteregie area, said the strain could be the same one that struck Quebec hospitals a couple of years ago and is making a renewed appearance.

Lab results expected next week should confirm which C. difficile strain made the rounds.

Health officials believe the outbreak may have invaded the hospital when an already-infected patient was admitted.

A hospital spokesperson told The Canadian Press that about half of the hospital is being decontaminated, including the emergency room and the intensive care units.

The cleanup should be completed by next week.

Hospital director general Denis Blanchard told CP that the hospital followed conventional protocols when it noticed a higher incident rate of C. difficile this summer.

"In September we realized the measures put in place weren't meeting the objectives," he said.

More extreme measures have now been enacted, Blanchard said, including centralizing disinfection of instruments and the equipment used in wards where patients picked up the strain.

The hospital is also putting patients who display symptoms of infection in isolation and has imposed a limit on the number of visitors allowed other patients.

C. difficile, which causes diarrhea and can lead to a more serious intestinal condition known as colitis, has become a menace in hospitals and nursing homes.

Experts say the difficulty of eradicating C. difficile spores once an environment has been contaminated by an infected patient makes the bug easier to contract in hospitals.

The alarm comes one week after Quebec was lauded for its fight against the bacteria at an international infectious-diseases conference in Toronto. Experts praised Quebec's efforts to reduce antibiotic use and improve on precautions such as hand hygiene to prevent the spread of infection.


High rates of antibiotic use in institutions leave patients more vulnerable to the bacterium.

When patients take antibiotics, competing colon bacteria dies off, allowing C. difficile to take hold and flourish.

A strain of C. difficile is blamed for roughly 2,000 deaths in Quebec between 2003 and 2004.

C. difficile expert Dr. Andre Dascal, with McGill University's department of microbiology and immunology, said the reappearance of C. difficile is not unusual.

But reports of C. difficile infections outside hospitals in people not commonly thought to be at risk had him concerned.

"That ... is of major importance because if it's in the community already then this notion that just managing it in the hospital may not be enough," he told CP.

With a report from CTV Montreal's Cindy Sherwin and files from the Canadian Press

So Do we need to stop imports from Canada ?

 

[S.S.A.P.]

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/adis/bio/1998/00000010/00000003/art00001

Abstract:
Clostridium difficile diarrhoea and colitis is a new disease that is attributable to broad spectrum antibiotic therapy. During the past 2 decades C. difficile has become one of the most common nosocomial pathogens in the developed world. As changing demographics create an increasingly elderly population and the use of broad spectrum antimicrobials continues to expand, C. difficile is likely to become increasingly problematic.


http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/525121_4

C. difficile Infection in Patients Discharged from US Hospitals

....We found both the number and rate of US short-stay hospital discharges with a diagnosis of CDAD increased from 2000 through 2003. The overall rate and increase in the number of discharges were most prominent among patients ≥ 65 years of age.........

....For example, the number of US short-stay hospital discharge diagnoses of CDAD during either 2001, 2002, or 2003 exceeded the estimated annual number (120,000) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections for 1999–2000..........

....Several possible explanations may account for the increasing national rates of CDAD. One includes potentially new and evolving patterns of antimicrobial drug use, for example, use of the fluoroquinolones that have recently been implicated in outbreaks of CDAD.[9,24,25] Another potential contributing factor is the promotion of alcohol-based, waterless, hand sanitizers as the primary means of hand hygiene over soap and water. Because alcohol is not sporicidal, alcohol-based, waterless hand sanitizers may not be as effective as soap and water in removing C. difficile; this factor has led to the recommendation that "during outbreaks of CDAD, washing hands with a nonantimicrobial [agent] or antimicrobial soap and water after removing gloves is prudent"..........

.... Indeed, a recent report suggests that an emerging fluoroquinolone-resistant, epidemic strain of C. difficile has been responsible for hospital outbreaks in at least 6 US states (Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania) since 2001.[28] This epidemic strain has continued to spread among additional US states (Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas), Canada, and Europe..........

Contact precautions are recommended to prevent transmission of C. difficile in the healthcare setting ………These consist of placing patients with CDAD in private rooms or cohorting CDAD patients together, using gloves and gowns for all patient contact, and either using disposable patient care equipment or cleaning such equipment between use with different patients. In addition, removing certain potential fomites, such as reusable electronic thermometers, from use in the general hospital patient population is important for controlling outbreaks.[1] Limited data support enhanced environmental cleaning, especially of heavily contaminated patient care equipment. ………… Clinicians should be aware of the importance of adhering to these precautions for containing transmission of CDAD in healthcare facilities. However, because antimicrobial drug use is the single most important patient risk factor, the clinician's primary responsibility in the control of CDAD lies in the area of judicious antimicrobial drug use.


Porker writes

So Do we need to stop imports from Canada ?

??? IMPORTS ???

C. difficile transmission:
- Early release (lack of bed space and cost of hospital stay reasoning) of those diagnosed where conditions (at home, mingling with public etc) do not allow "the importance of adhering to contact
precautions" to be followed -as outlined for health facilities.

C. difficile attributable to
- a susceptible, aging population being prescribed more broad spectrum antibiotics

 

[PORKER]

So I do not think that according to the story that it makes any difference which side of the border the cDiff is on , we just need to track and test for it !!!!!!!!!!!,in the food that we eat.

The story explains that two teams of researchers -- under Dr. Glenn Songer at the University of Arizona and Dr. Scott Weese at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph -- found C. difficile spores in some samples of ground beef, veal, turkey and pork, pork sausage, chorizo, summer sausage and liverwurst.
Nearly 30 per cent of the meats tested in Arizona and 18 per cent tested in Ontario contained C. difficile. The Guelph team did not find the human epidemic strain.
A preliminary report of the Guelph work was to be presented Monday to the World Buiatrics Congress in France. (Buiatrics is the science of treating cattle diseases.)
Each team bought meat over a period of several months from three different grocery stores in Tucson, Ariz., and in the Guelph, Ont., area respectively. The two projects were conducted independently.
The Ontario researchers, who only tested ground beef and ground veal, are currently working on a larger sampling study, including meat bought in Quebec.
Both research teams had already shown C. difficile infects food animals like dairy calves and pigs. And some of the strains found in those animals -- and the sampled meat -- were virtually identical to some that cause disease in humans.

 

[Econ101]

It is better that food animals die than humans. Stop the fluoroquinalones in the meat supply. Management technicqes should be used to stop the necessity.

Another example of corporate greed over common sense.

 

[William Kanitz]

in Quebec in 2003– 2004 during an outbreak of Clostridium difficile, which the majority of those patients contracted in hospital.
Dr. Jacques Pépin discusses the extent of the C. difficile epidemic in Quebec.
The figures — far higher than any that the province of Quebec officially released — are an extrapolation from a research study that infectious disease consultant Dr. Jacques Pépin conducted at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke. The C. difficile outbreak hit the institution hard, and Pépin reported in August 2004 that his hospital lost at least 100 patients over that period (CMAJ 2004;171[5]:436).

At the time, Pépin predicted that more than 1000 patients across the province likely died within 30 days of contracting the infection in 2003–2004. With his colleagues Louis Valiquette and Benoit Cossette, the Sherbrooke physician has now completed a cohort study to measure mortality attributable to hospital-acquired C. difficile at their institution during the same period. Their study of 5619 patients compared those with C. difficile to others with similar underlying medical conditions. They found that 23% of patients who developed C. difficile-associated diarrhea died within 30 days, compared to 7% of the control group. The Sherbrooke mortality rate is identical to that measured by a surveillance system Quebec created to monitor C. difficile after news of the outbreak broke.

The cumulative 1-year mortality rate was 16.7%, Pépin found.

Since the provincial database reported 7731 cases of hospital-acquired C. difficile during fiscal 2003/04, and preliminary results suggest a similar incidence in 2004/05, Pépin assumes 14 000 cases in Quebec for 2003–2004. Based on his results in Sherbrooke, and allowing for a 1-year mortality rate of slightly lower than 16.7%, Pépin estimates that 2000 people died as a result of the epidemic.

 

[PORKER]

This makes the Spinach e-coli scene look like nothing. So did the food industry cover this death loss up or is there something I'am missing here.
5619 patients ? 2000 deaths ? Are they blaming the Meat industry or what?

 

[Econ101]

This makes the Spinach e-coli scene look like nothing. So did the food industry cover this death loss up or is there something I'am missing here.
5619 patients ? 2000 deaths ? Are they blaming the Meat industry or what?

No, the MEAT INDUSTRY covered it up. They have developed all the ways to do it while taking their money to the bank.

 

[William Kanitz]

SAULT AREA HOSPITAL
Michigan
************************
Wash your hands!

November 3, 2006 - The Sault Area Hospital (SAH) is reminding hospital visitors to wash their hands before and after they visit the hospital.

SAH is experiencing increased cases of Clostridium difficile (C. diff).

In previous years, SAH treated approximately two dozen cases of C. diff. per year.

So far this year, SAH has already seen in excess of 50 cases.

C. diff. is a bacterium that produces a toxin or type of poison that can cause swelling in the intestinal tract.

Patients will usually have symptoms like diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain.

This bacterium may be one of the normal germs found in the large bowel of some people.

If you have been on certain antibiotics or some types of chemotherapy, the normal balance of healthy bacteria (those that help you digest your food) and harmful ones (bacteria that make you sick) in your bowel can change.

This makes it easier for C. diff. to grow and cause infection.

C. diff. is a hardy germ and is a common infection in hospitals and long-term care homes.

It is passed from a person's body in their stool.

You can then pass it from your hands to whatever you touch.

C. diff. can stay on objects for up to 30 days or more.

A person can get C. diff. if they touch something that happens to have the bacterium on it, then touch their mouth.

While a large proportion those exposed to C. diff. will not develop symptoms, patients with weakened immune systems, complex medical problems and the elderly are more likely to get sick from C. diff.

This is why hand washing is so important.

A thorough hand-washing with soap and water should last from 10 to 20 seconds.

 

[William Kanitz]

PORK Magazine
A Difficult Prospect to Contemplate
By Marlys Miller (Friday, October 06, 2006)


Food safety issues always get people's attention. The recent spinach episode is one such example of a case that carried a high level of concern and widespread impact.

Just this week, a report involving a study by Ontario Veterinary College scientists suggests that Clostridium difficile may be be contracted by humans through eating tainted meat. The study is set to be published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Generally, the gut-based, bacterial disease was considered an infection likely contracted through hospitals and the extensive use of antibiotics. But C. difficile's occurrence in people who had not been hospitalized, lead to questions about how it's contracted.

The Ontario study found C. difficile on meat in the retail system. Researchers also identified the same strain in dairy cattle manure that caused illness in people in Quebec, Britain and the United States. Of course, dairy cattle aren't the only species involved; U.S. researchers have found other strains of C. difficile in piglets.

Scott Weese, DVM, who specializes in disease transfer between humans and animals, points out two important questions: If the bacterium is in the animal, can it migrate into retail meat? If it is present in retail meat, can it cause disease? Weese cautioned that it's too soon to know whether the presence of C. difficile in meat means that it can be transferred to people or that it eating the meat can cause illness.

He points out that there are several possible reasons why the C. difficile strains identified in the dairy cattle and people were the same. The strains may have evolved in parallel in each species, says Weese. Or, there might have been a single event where the strains shifted from one species to another, which does not mean it's a continuing problem. Another prospect is that it might reflect regular shifts of C. difficile types that occur between species in all directions.

His point is that much more research needs to be done. When it comes to food safety, you can bet this topic will be pursued further. The broader point is that it will continue to raise questions and challenges about feeding antibiotics to livestock and the food safety implications before more concrete evidence is available.

 

[PORKER]

Found This on the net.

Diarrhea bug in meat prompts investigation

TUSCON, Ariz., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. health officials, prompted by the discovery of a potentially fatal bacteria in meat bought in Tucson, are investigating if meat is making people sick.

The bacteria, Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, has been around for years, but previously was linked to infections in elderly hospital patients taking antibiotics, not associated with eating food, the (Tucson) Arizona Republic said Friday. However, a University of Arizona study found C. diff in different varieties of meat bought in Tucson grocery stores, the Republic said. The findings were confirmed by the national Centers for Disease Control.

Health officials said the finding, while alarming, doesn't offer proof that eating meats carrying the bacteria has made or can make people sick, the Republic said. It is possible, they said, that C. diff has been in the meat supply to some degree all along, but posed no danger, the Republic said.

C. diff can cause severe, recurrent diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In the worst cases, it can destroy the bowel and cause death, the Republic said. Instances of C. diff are being reported among younger, healthy patients, indicating the bug may have mutated to a more resistant strain.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.