At least 26 people were quarantined in Australia after a gut wrenching flight from Chile. Paramedics met the 747 when it landed in Sydney. Health officials say the sick people were part of the same tour group. Norovirus is suspected. Also, in Wodonga The Grange old folks home was “locked down” for a week because of a major gastroenteritis outbreak. Employees went to the local news media after officials with The Grange lied and said it was just a dozen people sick. Turns out at least 70 residents and 12 employees were sick. An unnamed employee said management didn’t even try to pick up the slack to compensate for the sick employees: “Work has increased tenfold. There has been no recognition from management. No one is saying we’re doing a great job. It’s a hard place to work at the moment.”
Nine people have died and 150 sickened after an outbreak at an old folks home in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada! Health officials suspect the deadly outbreak is caused by norovirus.
And just south, in the state of Washington, U.S.A., the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department is investigating an outbreak at a YMCA campground. About 80 people are sick with norovirus like symptoms. And 120 people sickened at a Christian campground in Whatcom County! Health officials are blaming norovirus. They say the outbreak actually started at the beginning of July, but for some reason is only now being made public. About one week ago they did warn residents to be careful as there were “clusters” of cases being reported. In the same county, people reported tummy bug symptoms after a chile contest on Lummi Island.
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease claims to have discovered an antibody that can neutralize human norovirus. Their study involved the use of immune cells of chimpanzees.
More bad news for plant eaters! Recent parasite infections are being blamed on bagged salads! In the United States the cyclospora outbreak has hit 16 states and at least 380 people! In Iowa and Nebraska, health officials say they’ve traced the parasite to bagged salads. At this point they’re not releasing the name of the brand of packaged salads. You can only get sick by eating food or drink contaminated with the parasite.
In Arkansas U.S.A., another parasite has eaten the brain of a girl. It’s called amoebic meningoencephalitis. It’s a type of meningitis caused when an amoeba goes up your nose into your brain. Officials think she got infected while swimming at Willow Springs Water Park. One of the first signs is vomiting, which could cause people to think it’s a tummy bug. The 12 years old girl has been placed in a medically induced coma. If she survives she will be only the third person to do so.
Yogurt and flavored coffee lovers watch out, bugs are being used as food coloring in U.S. food products! According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, cochineal insects are being used to color flavored coffees and yogurts. There are reports of people having allergic reactions, such as vomiting. Starbucks announced last year they would stop using the red bugs in their strawberry flavored Frappuccino. And you thought they were real strawberries. Officials with Dannon yogurt says the U.S. FDA approved the use of the bugs as a substitute strawberry (carmine) coloring, so they are not going to stop using them!
And more bad news for plant eaters: A Washington U.S.A. woman and her 3 years old daughter were sick for seven months from oatmeal. At first it was blamed on the standard tummy bug, turns out it was fungal mycotoxin poisoning. It wasn’t doctors who figured it out, it was the suffering woman. She was about to make her son a bowl of oatmeal, which he rarely ate, but she noticed he would get sick with similar symptoms when he ate it. Upon closer inspection of the Western Family brand oatmeal container she found a clump of toxic mold in the oatmeal.
New Hampshire U.S.A., one man has been infected with two rare viruses, Jamestown Canyon virus and the Powassan virus. Mosquitoes and ticks spread the disease. The signs are sudden severe headache, fever, vomiting and paralysis.
And in Iowa U.S.A., health officials reporting at least 26 cases of infection from a rare form of salmonella. Officials say this form of salmonella is related to poultry and is easily confused with the cyclospora parasite. Also, Polk County Department of Public Health is reporting another parasite outbreak, this time cryptosporidium. At least 68 cases so far. You get it from contaminated drinking water or swimming pools.
Bad news for beef eaters: There are reports that the Lone Star Tick is making its way north, from the southern U.S. states. The bad news is that apparently the bite of the Amblyomma americanum can render you allergic to beef! Symptoms are vomiting, abdominal cramps, hives, anaphylaxis and death.
In the African country of Nigeria, reports of at least 104 cases of gastroenteritis. Health officials blame poor hygiene.
In the new administrative district of Bandipora, in Jammu and Kashmir, India, at least 75 cases of gastroenteritis. Apparently people are rising up in protest because government officials supplied them with contaminated water. The angry people actually forced Public Health Engineering Department employees to drink the contaminated water! Health officials are now telling people to boil the water. In Mumbai city, 40 cases of cholera, and 2481 cases of gastroenteritis, were reported in July.
Pakistan reported a 39% increase in gastroenteritis, from December through January. (they also reported a 90% increase in snake bites!)