http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog Tue, 19 May 2009 10:34:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes lives happily in soil and in your compost heap, but also in water, processed meats, milk and cheese. When humans eat food contaminated with Listeria, they can develop listeriosis, an infection that triggers miscarriage in women and kills people whose immune systems are weak. Scientists would like to ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/scientists-find-rna-surprises-in-the-pathogenic-listeria-bacteria/ Now if you think that Salmonella in Peanuts is making news these days - well you're right. It seems that Barack Obama - the 44th US president may have had his own expereince that he decided to create a new Food Safety Working Group. And the best thing about it - it ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/barack-obama-creates-food-safety-working-group-after-eating-bad-peanuts/ It seems that the management of PCA stuffed up pretty badly. Let me say - Senior Management and the way they ran their company. With bankruptcy and one of the biggest lawsuits against them approaching over the next few month - there's no escape. With over 600 cases linked to them and 9 ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/whats-cheaper-a-good-microbiologist-or-a-bankrupt-company/ Since the beginning of 2009, the list of compamies affected by the salmonella contaminated peanut butter or for that matter any products made by the Peanut Corporation of America has grown larger. It looks like a huge lawsuit will follow and I'm sure there'll be an increase in salmonella testing from all food manufacturers. ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/list-of-products-recalled-due-to-salmonella-contamination-grows/ The U.S. health officials were the first to be alerted to the current peanut-based salmonella outbreak through a special government computer network called PulseNet. The only problem with the system is that it relies on doctors testing patients and it takes interviews with patients to identify the food source. Here is an explanation ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/new-salmonella-warning-system/ The Salmonella recovered from Peanut Butter (King Nut) has been found to be a genetic match to cases in the national Salmonella outbreak that has resulted in over thrity (30) illnesses in Minnesota and over 400 nationwide. The lab tests conducted last week by MDA has found that the Salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound package ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/peanut-butter-hides-salmonella-surprise/ This finding suggests suggests evolutionary biology and virology together can accelerate the discovery of viral-defence mechanisms, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. These findings by Julie Kerns, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Hutchinson Center’s Basic Science Division, published Jan. 25 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, present ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/rapid-evolution-of-a-protein-produced-by-an-immunity-gene-is-associated-with-increased-antiviral-activity-in-humans/ It's quite ironic that when profits are down the first people they seem to target is technical people. Now it seems after a major outbreak of listeria from Maple Leaf Foods in Canada, they've created a senior role of  Chief Food Safety officer. Bacteria from a Maple Leaf plant in Toronto ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/listeria-outbreak-creates-new-technical-role-in-company/ Two-thirds of meat samples taken from Toronto-area nursing homes and hospitals in mid-August for testing were contaminated with listeria, according to records obtained by CBC News and the Toronto Star in a joint investigation. A listeriosis outbreak that health officials warned the public about in August has been linked to the ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/listeria-contamination-in-maple-leaf-products-shocking/ Another person whihc now totals 13 has come down with the deadly Legionnaires' disease and health officials say the bacteria that causes the deadly respiratory ailment has been found at a second location, a Syracuse nursing home in NY. So far investigators searching for the potential source of the outbreak ... http://www.microbiologynews.info/blog/legionella-infects-no13/