Yes, there has been a recall of Salmonella-tainted eggs (half a billion eggs and counting) that have sickened almost 2000 individuals. The eggs were produced in what seems to be a Mega Chicken Coop created from rows of windowless factory buildings in Iowa. That chickens may have salmonella in this setting should not shock you. The [...]
Continue reading about Not the salmonella outbreak you are thinking of
There have been a huge number of articles posted over the weekend (BBC, ABC, Bloomburg -just to show a few) regarding an article posted in The Lancet. What is causing the uproar? Antibiotic-resistance? Check. Gram negative? Check. Superbug? Check. Easily transmissible worldwide? Oh crap. The Lancet is reporting that there is a new antibiotic-resistant superbug out there. Yes, it [...]
One million pounds of ground beef are being recalled due potential contamination with E. coli O157:H7. Approximately, 7 people have fallen ill so far. The reason why ground beef is so problematic is that people do not fully cook their ground beef. The bacteria present on the side of beef after processing gets ground into the [...]
So says Dr. David Mills, from U.C Davis, summing up the take-home message from his research described in a great article in the New York Times. Dr. Mills and fellow researchers Bruce German and Carlito Lebrilla, have discovered that the part of breast milk that cannot be digested by babies (and would technically be wasted), is [...]
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Are we creating monsters in real life? I think so. However, we seem to be fairly oblivious to the fact that they are out there and becoming more dangerous. Last week we discussed the dramatically higher incidence of VRE in Sweden. Today there is a report out from the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) [...]
Enterococci are normal gut flora that are found in most humans. The two major species that live in and effect humans are Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium (the species name gives you some idea of where and how they are distributed as well). A recent report out of Sweden is describing the growing incidence of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) [...]
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The New York Times has an article that details an art exhibit of viral particles created out of glass by sculptor Luke Jerram. They are fairly accurate representations of viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis C virions. In glass. They are breathtaking. But as beautiful as they are, my favorite quote was from the article’s [...]
Most of my students are afraid of bacteria. They hear in the news how various types of bacterial infections are causing daily doses of death and disease. But…we also need to remember how important bacteria are to our global health and well being. We know that bacteria help recycle plant and animal matter. Oil eating [...]
I have heard a lot of my friends extol the virtues of drinking raw milk. There are many websites devoted to the benefits and life experiences obtained from the drinking of raw milk. I grew up drinking raw milk. However, I am not pro- or con-raw milk. I am just a voice of consequence. You [...]