Typhoid outbreak blamed on fruit. By: Mike Stobbe
A few months ago there was an outbreak of typhoid fever in the western United States. The food company Goya of Seacaucus, N. J. sent out contaminated mamey fruit pulp. The pulp was contaminated with the bacteria Salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever and it can be cured with antibiotics. Typhoid fever can be extremely dangerous. In the United States it is uncommon, with less than 400 cases a year. The CDC says that most of the cases that appear in the United States are in people who travel abroad. The symptoms of typhoid fever are similar to the flu, with a fever of about 104 degrees, stomach aches, headaches, and weakness and potentially a flat pinkish red rash. The bacteria is in the digestive system so it is spread through feces. Typhoid fever is spread through water that is contaminated with the feces of another sick person. What happened with Goya was that the mamey fruit pulp was sold to people who made smoothies with them and they became ill. There were seven people infected from ages 4 to 31.
One connection to epidemic disease is that it is a disease that is not prevalent in the United States but it is still a problem in other parts of the world, especially in places without access to clean water or sanitation systems. Typhoid fever is similar to cholera in that way because they are both spread through contaminated water and they are prevalent in similar places. I thought that the article was informative and it gave a lot of information in an organized way. The article allowed me to learn about a new epidemic disease that we have not studied in class.
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/08/13/typhoid_outbreak_blamed_on_fruit/
A few months ago there was an outbreak of typhoid fever in the western United States. The food company Goya of Seacaucus, N. J. sent out contaminated mamey fruit pulp. The pulp was contaminated with the bacteria Salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever and it can be cured with antibiotics. Typhoid fever can be extremely dangerous. In the United States it is uncommon, with less than 400 cases a year. The CDC says that most of the cases that appear in the United States are in people who travel abroad. The symptoms of typhoid fever are similar to the flu, with a fever of about 104 degrees, stomach aches, headaches, and weakness and potentially a flat pinkish red rash. The bacteria is in the digestive system so it is spread through feces. Typhoid fever is spread through water that is contaminated with the feces of another sick person. What happened with Goya was that the mamey fruit pulp was sold to people who made smoothies with them and they became ill. There were seven people infected from ages 4 to 31.
One connection to epidemic disease is that it is a disease that is not prevalent in the United States but it is still a problem in other parts of the world, especially in places without access to clean water or sanitation systems. Typhoid fever is similar to cholera in that way because they are both spread through contaminated water and they are prevalent in similar places. I thought that the article was informative and it gave a lot of information in an organized way. The article allowed me to learn about a new epidemic disease that we have not studied in class.
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/08/13/typhoid_outbreak_blamed_on_fruit/
It is sad to hear that people became infected just from drinking a smoothie, especially when some of them were so young. It is just another reason that people everywhere need clean water, no matter what. Even though this outbreak was not spread by infected water, it is still one of the modes of transmission. I also agree that it is nice to learn about a disease we have not learned about in class especially when it is able to be linked so closely to a disease we are familiar about.
ReplyDeleteThis article makes it clear that even though some diseases are less common in the United States and there is a small number of cases, it is still possible for people in the US to get sick with things like Typhoid. Even though the US is advanced in vaccines and things like that, it is still possible for disease like Typhoid and other less common illnesses to occur and spread. However, it is a good thing that these diseases are occurring in such small numbers. You make a good connection to cholera in the way that typhoid is spread through waste and excrement. This article shows the importance of having clean water since typhoid was spread through dirty water as well as waste.
ReplyDeleteKelly, I really liked your article especially how you related it to the Cholera epidemics we have studied in class. It amazes me that things like Typhoid Fever can still occur today with all of our public health advancements. I guess they just haven't made it all the way around the world. Where in the world is typhoid fever prevalent? You would think that such a large company like Goya who sells products all over the world, including the US would have higher standards for where they get their fruit from. The symptoms you described "a fever of about 104 degrees, stomach aches, headaches, and weakness and potentially a flat pinkish red rash" sounded really similar to a variety of things especially the flu. This worries me because people probably don't think as badly of their symptoms when they present like the flu. I found this article to be really interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting article. Most of the other ones were about other places in the world and their struggles, but this was one closer to home. I think people forget that people in the US are just as able to get an infectious disease or to have an outbreak. This article showed that because when it comes down to it, we are all one world and we all interact. If one place is having trouble with disease, it is bound to spread one way or another. This is what people should be looking out for and why great help is needed in other countries as well as in our own.
ReplyDeleteKelly, overall I thought this was an interesting article. It is amazing how Typhoid Fever sounds so similar to Cholera, well at least how it is spread. The syptoms sound similar too. Also its scary that this can be spread by fruit, I mean I would never think that something like this could start with fruit. It is sad to think that people as young as four were contracting this disease.
ReplyDeleteKelly, this was a very interesting article. I also think that it is very interesting how similar typhoid fever sounds to Cholera seeing that it attacks the digestive system and is spread through contaminated water supplies. It's amazing to think that a disease like that can be spread due to a food industry as large as Goya. It was nice to learn about a disease that has not been talked about in class.
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