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By the Numbers
— Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Oxford, England, were cited as saying in New Scientist that depending on how many people died from new variant CJD (mad cow disease) in 1999, they will be able to predict the eventual number of fatalities, and that forecasts by scientists researching the human form of mad cow disease have suggested the death toll will be thousands rather than millions. One of the team, statistician Christl Donnelly, was quoted in New Scientist as saying, “1999 may be a bit of a turning point.” If 15 people or fewer died from nvCJD in 1999, the model predicts the number will reach a maximum of 500,000 cases in total. If there is no increase, and a similar number die in 2000, it is expected to peak at 14,000 cases or fewer.
— According to the latest figures released by the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), during the 1980s and 1990s, Salmonella serotype Enteritidis (SE)—a subtype of Salmonella infection associated with egg consumption—emerged as an important cause of human illness in the United States. The rate of SE isolates reported to CDC increased from 0.6 per 100,000 population in 1976 to 3.6 per 100,000 in 1996. Case-control studies of sporadic infections and outbreak investigations found that this increase was associated with eating raw or undercooked shell eggs. From 1996 to 1998, the rate of culture-confirmed SE cases reported to CDC declined to 2.2 per 100,000 due in part, say experts, to increased food-safety efforts in farms and kitchens.
— According to a piece appearing on The MEATing Place (www.meatingplace.com), the Food Safety and Inspection Service recently completed its review of 37 countries that export meat and poultry products to the United States to determine the equivalence of food safety systems to new U.S. regulations. Says the FSIS: Of the 37 countries evaluated, 32 have implemented equivalent Pathogen Reduction and HACCP requirements. One country, Paraguay, is currently suspended for both unsanitary establishment conditions and for failing to implement E. coli requirements. Four countries, Guatemala, Honduras, Slovenia and the Dominican Republic, voluntarily delisted all establishments certified for export to the United States while they continue to implement PR/HACCP.
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