CIDRAP News
Apr. 7th, 2009 03:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamweaverJapanese researchers find raccoons had H5N1 exposure
Japanese researchers said today that they have detected H5N1 avian influenza antibodies in 10 wild raccoons, the first such finding in the country's mammals, the Daily Yomiuri reported today. They presented their findings at a conference of the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science and warned that infected raccoons could spread the virus to chicken farms. They based their findings on blood from 998 raccoons that were collected since 2005 from three locations in western Japan and one site in the eastern part of the country. They said that the 10 raccoons that showed H5N1 antibodies were probably infected by eating the carcasses of sick birds or inheriting the antibody from a parent. In December 2008, US researchers reported in Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) that they found antibodies to a variety of influenza subtypes in raccoons. When they experimentally infected the raccoons, they found that the animals can become infected with avian and human influenza A viruses, shed and transmit the virus to other animals, and seroconvert. Raccoons have avian- and human-type cellular receptors, which could make the animals a mixing vessel for creating novel flu strains.
[Apr 7 Daily Yomiuri story]
[Dec 2008 EID report]
Multiple Salmonella findings prompted Kraft to test pistachios
Kraft Foods said a brand of trail mix that has been recalled due to potentially tainted pistachios had tested positive for Salmonella four times, as far back as September 2008, according to an Apr 3 Chicago Tribune report. The fourth positive test, in March 2009, prompted the company to test its inventory of Setton Farms pistachios, which showed evidence of Salmonella. Kraft said it promptly notified the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its findings and recalled its Back to Nature trail mix. The company said in each instance it was able to pull the potentially contaminated product before it reached consumers. In other developments, food companies have so far recalled 144 pistachio products, the FDA said on Apr 3. Meanwhile, pistachio trade groups on Apr 4 launched a Web site targeted to consumers that lists pistachio products that don't contain nuts from the Setton Farms facilities and are not subject to any recall: http://www.pistachiorecall.org.
[Apr 3 Chicago Tribune story]
[FDA pistachio recall list]
[Apr 4 Western Pistachio Association press release]
Japanese researchers said today that they have detected H5N1 avian influenza antibodies in 10 wild raccoons, the first such finding in the country's mammals, the Daily Yomiuri reported today. They presented their findings at a conference of the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science and warned that infected raccoons could spread the virus to chicken farms. They based their findings on blood from 998 raccoons that were collected since 2005 from three locations in western Japan and one site in the eastern part of the country. They said that the 10 raccoons that showed H5N1 antibodies were probably infected by eating the carcasses of sick birds or inheriting the antibody from a parent. In December 2008, US researchers reported in Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) that they found antibodies to a variety of influenza subtypes in raccoons. When they experimentally infected the raccoons, they found that the animals can become infected with avian and human influenza A viruses, shed and transmit the virus to other animals, and seroconvert. Raccoons have avian- and human-type cellular receptors, which could make the animals a mixing vessel for creating novel flu strains.
[Apr 7 Daily Yomiuri story]
[Dec 2008 EID report]
Multiple Salmonella findings prompted Kraft to test pistachios
Kraft Foods said a brand of trail mix that has been recalled due to potentially tainted pistachios had tested positive for Salmonella four times, as far back as September 2008, according to an Apr 3 Chicago Tribune report. The fourth positive test, in March 2009, prompted the company to test its inventory of Setton Farms pistachios, which showed evidence of Salmonella. Kraft said it promptly notified the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its findings and recalled its Back to Nature trail mix. The company said in each instance it was able to pull the potentially contaminated product before it reached consumers. In other developments, food companies have so far recalled 144 pistachio products, the FDA said on Apr 3. Meanwhile, pistachio trade groups on Apr 4 launched a Web site targeted to consumers that lists pistachio products that don't contain nuts from the Setton Farms facilities and are not subject to any recall: http://www.pistachiorecall.org.
[Apr 3 Chicago Tribune story]
[FDA pistachio recall list]
[Apr 4 Western Pistachio Association press release]
