E. coli and Vibrio outbreaks recorded in New Zealand

New Zealand has reported E. Coli, Clostridium Perfringens and Vibrio Epidemia in recent months.

An acute gastro-ear epidemic associated with a food company was reported in Auckland in June. It involved 32 patients. Clostridium Perfringens has been identified in remaining foods and in clinical samples from a hospitalized person and two food managers. A survey on food processing practices has been undertaken by New Zealand Food Safety and Auckland Council.

Still in June, there was an epidemic of vibrio parahaemolyticus. Four people fell ill in three regions.

Patients had consumed raw mussels harvested in the same area of ​​aquaculture culture. The four cases were of the type of sequence (ST) 50 and were in genomically cluster. The cluster was also closely linked to previous epidemics from 2020 to 2022. New Zealand food security, Master of Mouls, suppliers and retailers encouraged consumers to carefully cook the crustaceans.

Epidemics of April and May
The data comes from reporting reports of notifiable diseases published by the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Judicial Sciences (SCHF), formerly known as the Institute of Environmental and Research Sciences (ESR).

In May, an epidemic of gastroenteritis was reported among the participants in a large event treated in Waikato. The epidemic involved 100 patients, of which only seven were confirmed in the laboratory. Of the seven faecal samples obtained, E. coli Enteropathogen (EPEC) was detected in all and Clostridium Perfringens was found in four. However, no food sample was available for analysis.

In May also, there were 110 infections at E. coli producing shiga toxins, compared to 78 for the same month in 2024. Hospitalization status was recorded for 96 confirmed cases, 33 of which were hospitalized and three cases of uremical hemolytic syndrome (HUS) were reported. The serotype was identified for 63 cases, 38 of which were not O157.

In April, an epidemic of E. Coli was reported in the Waikato district among the participants of a school camp. The epidemic involved 26 patients, only three of whom were confirmed in the laboratory. A person was hospitalized. The source was the fecal material of camping cattle.

There were also two cases of Taenien in April. The patients were both men and were aged 20 to 29 and 30 to 39. The two had consumed raw beef abroad; One in Ethiopia and the other in Italy.

Yersinia study
Meanwhile, a pHF science study confirmed that fresh and unprocessed pork is an important source of Yersinia.

Yersiniosis is the second most rated bacterial gastrointestinal disease in New Zealand, with triplant infection rates between 2010 and 2021.

Interviews with participants in the study with Yersiniosis have shown that infections lasted 18 days on average, but some lasted as long as two months. A questionnaire on the risk factor was taken by 247 patients with Yersiniose and 258 participants witness to the regions of Canterbury and Wellington.

A quarter of those questioned went to the hospital, with one in six admitted. Some were hospitalized up to 10 days. A parent said he had taken a month off to take care of his young child who suffered from diarrhea.

Researchers have also taken food samples. When Yersinia was found, the whole genome sequencing identified genetic correspondence that linked bacteria to patients to patient infections.

The Yersinia Enterocolitica pathogenic was isolated from 74 samples. The prevalence was significantly higher for raw pork compared to raw beef or lamb. It was also more important for gross chopped pork (Hachce), compared to other raw pig products.

“By linking the cases of yersiniosis to pork consumption and allowing genetic comparisons between samples of different origin, the results of PHF Science helped NZF confirm that pigs and pig play a leading role in the epidemiology of this complex pathogen, and supported our work during the work of food security.

(To register for a free subscription to Food Safety News,Click here))