Ham Recall: Food Illness Outbreak!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recalled 90,000 pounds of ham. Johnston County Hams recalled five different ham products Tuesday. The contaminated meat product got distributed to Maryland, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia. These are the products:

• Country Style Fully Cooked Boneless Deli Ham

• Ole Fashioned Sugar Cured The Old Dominion Brand Hams Premium Fully Cooked Country Ham

• Padow’s Hams & Deli, Inc. Fully Cooked Country Ham Boneless Glazed With Brown Sugar

• Premium Fully Cooked Country Hamm Less Salt

• Goodnight Brothers Country Ham Boneless Fully Cooked

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) led an epidemiological investigation of listeriosis after reports from the FSIS. Through the combined efforts of local state departments and the CDC, the outbreak link is between illness and Johnston Country Ham products. The recall stemmed from ham products possibly exposed to Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is one of the most common foodborne illness-causing agents. This example continues the streak of the foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S. My last blog touched more on this public health issue.

For news about this outbreak check out:

https://www.newsweek.com/almost-90000-pounds-ham-recalled-possible-listeria-contamination-one-death-1152506

For more information on the foodborne illness, outbreak checks my last post.

https://healthmap.wordpress.com/2018/10/03/food-borne-illness-outbreaks-a-public-health-problem/

Food Borne Illness Outbreaks a Public Health Problem?

One public health issue that needs more attention is foodborne disease outbreaks. Foodborne outbreaks account for approximately 9.2 million illnesses each year. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 800 foodborne disease outbreaks are reported annually, resulting in roughly 15,000 illnesses (18% of which resulted in hospitalization) and 20 deaths each year.

Figure 1: Displays the most common pathogens that cause food borne illness, outbreaks, hospitalization, and deaths from 2009-2015.

Foodborne outbreaks are the result of two or more cases of foodborne illness caused by a similar pathogen. When foodborne outbreaks occur, the cases are reported to both the local and state department. After gathering information from those departments, the CDC follows up with an investigation.  It is always important to be aware of warnings for food outbreaks and food recall alerts.  Be careful of what you eat. Remember to Wash your hands when preparing and handling foods.

For more information click the following link:

http://www.aappublications.org/news/2018/10/02/mmwr100218

Reference:

Dewey-Mattia D, et al. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2018;67(No. SS-10):1–11, http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6710a1.

Preventive Dental Care for Children in GA – A look at the disparities.

Preventive oral health care is essential for one’s overall health. For children, it is important to address oral health needs earlier in life to prevent oral health issues from forming and progressing into adulthood. Below is a map of the percentage of children in Georgia with financial access to preventive dental care. This map comes from an article written by Cao, Gentili, Griffin, Griffin & Serban (2017) titled, “Disparities in Preventive Dental Care Among Children in Georgia.”

The authors of the article state that financial access is, “the percentage of children who either are eligible for public insurance or have the ability to afford dental care through commercial insurance or ability to pay out-of-pocket,” (Cao et al., 2017). Although there are plenty of children who are eligible to receive public funding for preventive dental care in GA, only 27.9% of the 4,123 dentists in GA who offer preventive dental services to children accept public insurance, (Cao et al., 2017).

What are your thoughts? What does financial access to preventive dental care mean to you? Is this an accurate representation of financial access? I invite you to read more of the article on the CDC’s website, here. 

Source: Cao S, Gentili M, Griffin PM, Griffin SO, Serban N. Disparities in Preventive Dental Care Among Children in Georgia. Prev Chronic Dis 2017;14:170176. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd14.170176.

Rate of Self Reported Pesticide Related Illness By State 2014

 

Today’s map shows the rate of self reported pesticide related illness by state for the year of 2014 per 100,000 person. From the map we can see some states had rates ranging as low as 0.00 to 0.27 indicated by the yellow shading. In contrast some states, such as Alaska, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, New York, Kansas and Virginia had rates as high as 0.87 to 2.56 indicated by the dark blue shading. However, its important to note that because these are self-reported rates the date is subjected to under-reporting. In addition, because these exposures are self-reported both the type of pesticide and the degree of illness associated with the exposure may be mis-classified since the designation by the poison control center for both is based on the description provided by the caller.

According to the CDC farmworkers are among those when are subjected to pesticide exposure. For more information on migrant workers click here.

By Julia Watson

Number of Homes Built Between 1950 and 1979 By County 2000

Check out this map that shows the number of homes built between 1950 and 1979 by county for year 2000. From the map we can see there were many new homes built in counties within the eastern states, such as New York, New Jersey, Road Island, Main  indicated by the darker shading.  There were also many new homes built in counties within some western states, such as California and Arizona. We can see states such as North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Kansas had fewer new homes built within the 29 year period indicated by the yellow/yellowish shading. This makes sense because when compared to the previous map of homes built prior to 1950 for the year of 2000 we see these states had a higher percentage of older homes.

By Julia Watson

Rates of Early Syphilis Varies By State

Interesting data by the CDC regarding morbidity and mortality of syphilis among homosexual males and bisexuals. For more information click here.

By Julia Watson

Percent of Uninsured Living with HIV By County 2014 (Ages 13 and Older)

Check out this map which shows the percent of people living with HIV who were uninsured by county for the year of 2014 ages 13 and older. From the map we can see that a large portion of counties within Hawaii, the north east, and some midwest states had some of the lowest percentages of people with HIV who where uninsured indicated by the yellow shading. In contrast states in the south and west had some of the highest percentages of people living with HIV who were uninsured.  We can see Alaska and Texas were predominantly shaded dark, indicating percentages ranging as high as 19 to 39.

By Julia Watson

Opioid Prescribing Various Among US Counties

 

Check out this map from the CDC which shows which counties in 2015 had high opioid prescribing.  The CDC found similar characteristics amongst these counties such as having a higher percent of white residents, more dentists and primary care providers, more people who were uninsured or unemployed.

By Julia Watson

Years of Potential Life Lost Rate (2011 to 2013)

Check out this map that shows the years of potential life lost rate from years 2011 to 2013. The years of potential life lost rate, also known as premature mortality rate, measures the frequency in which people are dying. From the map we can see a pronounced cluster of states darkly shaded (Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia) indicating a large proportion of counties within these states had a high rate of premature deaths. In other words people who lived within these counties were dying at an early age. In contrast we can see counties within states such as, Maine, Road Island, Vermont are lightly shaded yellow/orange, indicating people who lived within these counties were dying at an older age.

For more information click here

By Julia Watson

Chlamydia Rate By County 2013

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the U.S. [1] largely affecting men and women between the ages of 20 to 24. If untreated chlamydia can cause detrimental damage to a women’s reproductive system. [2]

Check out this map which shows the incidence of chlamydia by US counties in 2013 per 100,000 population. From the map, we can see most of states have a couple counties that are shaded dark indicating a high rate of newly diagnosed cases. Overall, we can see most counties have newly diagnosed causes of chlamydia.

For more information click here.

By Julia Watson