salmonella

And sniffer mice – We’re all familiar with dogs that sniff out illicit drugs, but the sniffer dogs you see at airports are generally used to detect food brought in from other countries and states. But here’s a new one: Sniffer dogs that detect DISEASE. Could they sniff out eggs tainted with Salmonella? Maybe we should all just change our diets.

Scientists have trained mice to identify feces of ducks infected with bird influenza. Migrating ducks, geese, and other birds can carry and spread flu viruses over wide geographic areas, where the viruses may possibly spread to other species. The next step: training dogs to do the same job. In some cases, they may work WITH the sniffer mice.
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A pet snake may have caused the death of a woman who died after receiving a tainted blood transfusion. Salmonella bacteria from the snake may have contaminated the blood given by the blood donor. Another woman became ill following a transfusion from the same donor, but she survived. Snakes carry salmonella bacteria (the same bacteria that infects poultry), but this is the first time a snake has been implicated in a death this way.
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A lethal strain of salmonella that’s resistant to at leastnine antibiotics is spreading rapidly across the US. Representative Henry Waxman, D-CA, says multi-drug-resistant salmonella Newport is a “growing and serious threat,” and has sent a warning letter to the Dept. of Agriculture.

Salmonella can be caught from improperly stored food and rawchicken. It’s found on dairy farms and lives in undercookedhamburger and cheese made from unpasteurized milk. It causesdiarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, bloody stools and vomiting,and is most dangerous to very young children, the elderlyand those with other illnesses.
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Cooks need to be aware that about 13 percent of raw U.S. turkeys carry salmonella, a bacteria that can produce severe flu-like symptoms if the bird is not thoroughly cooked or if raw turkey is allowed to contaminate kitchen surfaces.

Government data shows the rate of salmonella contamination in raw turkey is higher than for other raw meat. Samples collected by the U.S. Agriculture Department found salmonella contamination rates of 3 percent for ground beef and 9 percent for chicken. In tests of chickens, some free-range birds turned out to have higher salmonella rates than factory-raised fowl.
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