It was a salad in a bag that triggered a Cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Ireland

A cryptosporidiosis outbreak affected 40 people in Ireland last year. Now it has been linked to a salad in a bag.

Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous

A cryptosporidiosis outbreak affected 40 people in Ireland last year. Now it has been linked to a salad in a bag

It was July 2020, exactly one year ago, when a cryptosporidiosis cluster was reported by a Dublin laboratory. It was then that environmental health officers carried out 110 inspections of food and water samples at the sites of the infection.

Forty patients were linked to the outbreak, of which 14 required clinical medications. Symptom onset dates ranged from mid to late July 2020, and these sufferers ranged in age from 3 to 74 years. Then the withdrawal from the market of a series of salads in bags was triggered.

Now a new report highlights how that epidemic was triggered by that very product, salad in a bag. Already from the preliminary investigation into the epidemic, in fact, a food origin was suspected.

Index

What is Cryptosporidiosis

It is a protozoan infection by Cryptosporidium Parvum, which is transmitted by contact or use of contaminated water, contaminated food, direct contact with already infected humans or animals. In the Irish case it was obviously a question of salad not washed well.
This small protozoan causes an infection which, in both humans and animals, can attack the gastrointestinal tract, the epithelium of the bile ducts or the respiratory tract.

Symptoms of cryptosporidiosis are:

Diarrhea
nausea
vomiting
less frequently
fever

Particularly at risk are children between 1 and 5 years of age.

What to check when buying salad in a bag

When shopping at the supermarket, don't forget to:

check that the package is sealed and intact
check the expiration date
keep in mind that you have to consume them more or less immediately (in short, they should not be bought for long-term storage in the fridge) and some are more easily perishable than others: for example valerian and songino are more delicate than red radicchio or ruby red lettuce ( the red colored leaves, among other things, contain more natural antioxidants and antimicrobials that favor their conservation)

How to store the salad in a bag

do not store it in the fruit and vegetable drawer, as temperatures above 4 ° C are found in the refrigerators at home
better to put the bags on the central shelves between 2 and 4 ° C

HERE you will find everything you need to know if you buy salads in bags.

Source: Irish Scientific Journal / FSAI

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