A federal court in Georgia has overruled the government’s objections to Stewart Parnell’s representation by attorney Kenneth Hodges in the defense of criminal charges arising from a Salmonella outbreak allegedly traced to Parnell’s former company, Peanut Corp. of America. United States v. Parnell, 13-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered May 30, 2013). Because the government’s motion was sealed, further details about the objections are unknown. According to the court, Parnell “knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to object to Hodges’ potential or actual conflict.” Additional information about the criminal charges appears in Issue 472 of this Update.
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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) have issued their third joint report “on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria affecting humans, animals and foods.” Based on data collected by member states in 2011, the report notes the “continued presence of resistance to a range of antimicrobials in Salmonella and Campylobacter, the main bacteria causing food-borne infections in the European Union (EU),” although co-resistance to more than one critically important antimicrobial remains low overall. According to the findings, “a high proportion of Campylobacter bacteria … was resistant to the critically important antimicrobial ciprofloxacin” in addition to other commonly used antimicrobials. The data also suggested that Salmonella resistance “to at least three different antimicrobial classes[] was high overall in the EU,” with a large proportion of the bacteria in humans and animals already resistant to commonly used antimicrobials and, in the case of poultry, to ciprofloxacin. “If…
Chinese scientists investigating the spread of airborne influenzas have reportedly combined genetic material from avian (H5N1) and swine (H1N1) flu strains to create more than 100 different hybrid viruses, five of which proved contagious among mammals. Ying Zhang, et al., “H5N1 Hybrid Viruses Bearing 2009/H1N1 Virus Genes Transmit in Guinea Pigs by Respiratory Droplet,” Science, May 2013. According to the study, researchers engineered 127 reassortant viruses using “a duck isolate of H5N1, specifically retaining its hemagglutinin (HA) gene throughout, and a highly transmissible, humaninfective H1N1 virus,” then tested the reassortants in mice “as a correlate for virulence in humans” and in guinea pigs, “which have both avian and mammalian types of airway receptor,” as a test of transmissibility. The results evidently showed that in addition to H5 HA gene mutations, which “improve affinity for human-like airway receptors,” specific H1N1 genes enhanced mammal-to-mammal transmission, including “the polymerase PA gene and nonstructural protein…
According to a new Consumer Reports study that analyzed ground turkey purchased at retail store nationwide, more than one-half of the 257 samples tested were contaminated with fecal bacteria and “almost all” of the diseasecausing organisms “proved resistant to one or more of the antibiotics commonly used to fight them.” The magazine tested both conventional meat and meat from birds that were not fed antibiotics, and, although all were reportedly found to be equally likely to contain the bacteria the magazine considered in its study, bacteria on the antibiotic-free ground turkey “were much less likely to be antibiotic-resistant.” “Turkeys are given antibiotics to treat acute illness,” the report stated, “but healthy animals may also get drugs daily in their food and water to boost their rate of weight gain and to prevent disease.” This practice “is speeding the growth of drug-resistant superbugs, a serious health concern. People sickened by those…
A federal court in Georgia considering the criminal charges filed against former Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell has denied his request for the return of his passport “for purposes of employment-related international travel.” United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered April 26, 2013). Parnell apparently surrendered his passport as a condition of his pretrial release. Parnell and company managers were charged in a 76-count indictment over a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009. Additional information about the charges appears in Issue 472 of this Update. According to the court, Parnell was allowed to be released “on an unsecured $100,000 bond with no pretrial supervision by the U.S. Probation Office,” and, because he did not show that he cannot find employment within the United States and no other changes have taken place since the conditions were set, the court had no basis for returning the passport.
According to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) analysis, more than one-half of meat and poultry samples tested in 2011 contained antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Using findings from the federal government’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System, the report asserts that “store-bought meat tested in 2011 contained antibiotic-resistant bacteria in 81 percent of raw ground turkey, 69 percent of raw pork chops, 55 percent of raw ground beef and 39 percent of raw chicken parts.” “Consumers should be very concerned that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are now common in the meat aisles of most American supermarkets,” said EWG nutritionist Dawn Undurraga. “These organisms can cause foodborne illnesses and other infections. Worse, they spread antibiotic-resistance, which threatens to bring on a post-antibiotic era where important medicines critical to treating people could become ineffective.” See EWG News Release, April 15, 2013.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a global alert and response update on a new strain of novel avian influenza A (H7N9) virus identified by Chinese health officials, who have apparently confirmed 38 cases resulting in 10 fatalities. According to WHO, which has not yet recommended any trade or travel restrictions, there is no evidence to date of “of ongoing human-to-human transmission,” although the agency is working with Chinese authorities to monitor those with close contacts to infected patients and to determine potential disease reservoirs in domestic and wild poultry. Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reportedly activated its Emergency Operations Center in Atlanta, Georgia, in response to the outbreak, in addition to publishing interim guidance for U.S. clinicians, public health departments and health care workers outlining virus testing and control methods. “Ongoing (sustained) person-to-person spread is necessary for a pandemic to occur,” states…
A recent study has reportedly used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to retrospectively trace the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from animal to human for the first time. Ewan Harrison, et al., “Whole genome sequencing identifies zoonotic transmission of MRSA isolates with the novel mecA homologue mecC,” EMBO Molecular Medicine, April 2013. According to a March 25, 2013, University of Cambridge press release, U.K. and Danish researchers used WGS to examine two separate cases of MRSA infection in Danish farmers and their animals. The results evidently showed that the MRSA strains under investigation carried the novel mecC gene, which allowed researchers to compare the human infections with those found in the livestock and determine that animals were most likely the source of the new strains. “Having found this new MRSA in both people and animals on the same farm it was likely that it is being transmitted between animals and people. By looking…
A U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General audit report titled “FSIS E. coli Testing of Boxed Beef” concludes that the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) must reevaluate its E. coli testing methodology and “take additional steps to ensure that beef to be ground throughout the production process—from Federally inspected slaughter establishments to local grocery stores—be subject to FSIS sampling and testing for E. coli.” According to the report, “FSIS is not testing tenderized meat products for E. coli despite several recent recalls.” The Kansas City Star noted that the report was issued three months after the newspaper published a series of stories profiling individuals who had apparently been sickened with E. coli poisoning after consuming medium-rare, mechanically tenderized steaks in restaurants. The article highlighted that “the process of mechanically blading that meat uses automated needles or knives to tenderize tougher cuts of beef, forcing pathogens into the…
Since the federal government filed a 76-count indictment against the owner and managers of Peanut Corp. of America, the source of a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009, the defendants have entered not guilty pleas and been released on bonds ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (M.D. Ga., Albany Div., filed February 15, 2013). Additional details about the charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. The court has also entered orders designating the case as complex and excluding time under the Speedy Trial Act, as well as setting a scheduling conference for April 22, 2013.
