Thursday 03-03-16

CDC Warns of 'Healthy' Food Outbreaks: Sprouts, Salads, Organic Shakes and Meals, Cucumbers

Ironically, all of the CDC’s outbreak warnings on its homepage are currently for items on the so-called “healthy” foods list.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is warning of five potentially fatal, multi-state outbreaks – all victimizing people who eat foods typically considered healthful:
 

• Alfalfa Sprouts (two outbreaks),
• Organic Shake and Meal Products,
• Packaged Salads, and
• Cucumbers

Nine people in either Minnesota or Wisconsin who ate alfalfa sprouts have been diagnosed with the outbreak strain of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC O157), which can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially-fatal type of kidney failure. The CDC has linked the infections to sprouts produced by Jack & the Green Spouts.
“This outbreak does not appear to be related to the ongoing multistate outbreak of Salmonella Muenchen infections linked to alfalfa sprouts produced by Sweetwater Farms of Inman, Kansas,” the CDC reports.
Thus far, 13 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Muenchen have been reported from four states have been linked to Sweetwater Farms sprouts.
Fans of organic shakes and meals are being warned to avoid those products sold by RAW Organic Shakes & Meal products made by Garden of Life, LLC (CDC’s “likely” suspect). Eighteen cases of Salmonella Virchow from 15 states have been reported as of Feb. 17, 2016. The suspected products, sold nationally, have been voluntarily recalled.
Packaged salads have apparently caused eighteen people from nine states to contract Listeria, which “can cause a serious, life-threatening illness,” the CDC warns. All 18 cases were hospitalized, and one of those died.
“Laboratory tests performed on clinical isolates from all 18 ill people showed that the isolates are highly related genetically,” the CDC reports:
“Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence indicate that packaged salads produced at the Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio and sold under various brand names are the likely source of this outbreak.”
The products have been recalled, and the CDC warns not to eat any still on-hand.
Finally, a 16-state outbreak of Salmonella Poona infections linked to imported cucumbers has caused illness in 50 victims and caused two deaths since the CDC’s last update on November 19, 2015.
The CDC reports that 888 people have been infected since the outbreak was first declared:
“Two recalls of cucumbers that may be contaminated with Salmonella were announced in September 2015 as a result of this investigation: Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce and Custom Produce Sales.
“888 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Poona have been reported from 39 states, an increase of 50 cases since the last update on November 19, 2015.
“191 ill people have been hospitalized, and six deaths have been reported from Arizona (1), California (3), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (1). Salmonella infection was not considered to be a contributing factor in two of the three deaths in California.”

http://mrctv.org/blog/cdc-warns-healthy-food-outbreaks-sprouts-salads-organic-shakes-and-meals-cucumbers

Devices on public buses in Maryland are listening to private conversations

The Maryland Senate on Tuesday delayed action on a bill that would clamp down on when public buses and trains can record the private conversations of their passengers.
Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings, which unanimously voted for the measure to move to the Senate floor, said he wanted the committee to address an amendment offered by some of those who are concerned about costs associated with the bill.
The bill is likely to be considered by the Senate on Wednesday, he said.
“What [the Maryland Transit Administration] is doing is a mass surveillance,” Zirkin said.
“I find it outrageous,” he said. “I don’t want to overstate it, but this is the issue of our generation. As technology advances, it becomes easier and easier to encroach on people’s civil liberties.”

While Zirkin and other proponents argue that the technology, which has been in use since 2012, is an infringement on civil liberties, the bill’s opponents say the recordings are a necessary tool for homeland security.
The bill, which would affect MTA buses in the Baltimore area, Ride On buses in Montgomery County and TheBus in Prince George’s County, creates guidelines for audio recordings and places limits on when they can be made.

 

MTA began using recording devices inside some of its buses in 2012, without seeking legislative approval. Nearly 500 of its fleet of 750 buses now have audio recording capabilities. Officials say the devices can capture important information in cases of driver error or an attack or altercation on a bus.
Under the bill, recording devices would have to be installed near a bus or train operators’ seat. The devices would be controlled by the driver and could be activated only in the event of a public-safety incident.
The legislation to limit the recordings came to the Senate floor last week, but a vote was delayed until Tuesday after several lawmakers raised questions about how much it would cost to retrofit or replace existing recording equipment to meet the bill’s requirements.

Some lawmakers raised the issue of security. Several asked for the delay to allow time to draft amendments.

“I can make an argument to tape everybody, everywhere, everywhere they walk, everywhere they talk, and you can make the excuse for homeland security,” Zirkin said. “But that is not a valid reason to encroach this fundamentally on people’s privacy rights.”
This is the fourth time in four years that the bill to limit the recordings has been introduced. Previous pieces of legislation have never made it out of committee, but Zirkin’s committee unanimously approved it this year.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) indicated last week that he doesn’t like the bill and would probably vote against it because he feels the limitations could compromise security, and he does not want to incur the cost of replacing existing equipment.
The Judicial Proceedings Committee will hear testimony Tuesday afternoon on a bill that would change the way police officers in Maryland are trained and the process they go through when they are accused of misconduct.
The legislation, which was heard in the House last week, was created after the spring’s riots in Baltimore and repeated calls from criminal justice advocates for police reform.
Also on Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on a proposal to ban firearms at public colleges and universities in the state, including community colleges. Under existing law, schools can set their own gun policies, as long as they comply with Maryland statutes. Some schools prohibit firearms outright, while others allow them with permission from campus police.

 

The gun legislation, sponsored by Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery) and Del. Benjamin S. Barnes (D-Prince George’s), is partly a response to a wave of mass shootings across the nation in recent years. Schools that include Virginia Tech and Oregon’s Umpqua Community College have experienced such deadly shootings, and Washington College on the Eastern Shore was shut down for a week in the fall while authorities tried to track down a student who had allegedly displayed a gun on campus.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/devices-on-public-buses-in-maryland-are-listening-to-private-conversations/2016/02/29/325e1d1e-df36-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html