Day: March 17, 2018

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports a major breakthrough in efforts to contain South Africa’s longest and largest recorded listeria outbreak.

The current outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa began more than one year ago in January 2017. As of March 12, the WHO has recorded 978 lab-confirmed cases of this foodborne disease, including 183 deaths.

WHO food safety expert Peter Ben Embarek says it is very difficult to investigate outbreaks of listeriosis because the disease has a very long incubation period. He says it can take several weeks before people show any symptoms, get sick and are hospitalized.

“Two weeks ago, food was identified as the primary source of this large outbreak. It is a meat, ready-to-eat meat product, a type of sausage very commonly consumed in South Africa and in the region – Polony product. Since then, recall of the incriminated product has been initiated both in South Africa, but also in 15 countries that have imported this product from South Africa,” he said.

Embarek said the WHO is facilitating the exchange of information between South Africa and countries who have imported this contaminated product. He says it is important to recall the sausage and remove it from the shelves to prevent further cases from occurring.  

Now that the source of this foodborne disease has been identified, he told VOA he expects the number of new cases to quickly drop.

“With regard to the case fatality rate in this outbreak, among the cases where they have been able to follow them and see the outcome of their disease, it is about 27 percent. And it is within the norms. Listeriosis outbreak has a case fatality rate of between 20 and 30 percent. It is a very severe foodborne disease” he said.  

Embarek said listeriosis can be effectively treated with antibiotics if caught promptly, particularly in the case of high-risk populations, such as newborn babies, pregnant women and the elderly.  

He says the WHO is not recommending any restrictions on travel or trade.

 
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A prehistoric tooth from one of the largest sharks ever known has gone missing from a secret location in a remote World Heritage area in Western Australia.  Police are investigating the theft of the rare Megalodon tooth discovered in the Cape Range National Park.

The location of the rare tooth was thought to have been highly secret.  The well-preserved fossil was stolen from the spot where it was discovered just as wildlife rangers were looking to protect it from theft with a bulletproof glass cover or a wire cage.

The disappearance of the Megalodon tooth, which could be worth thousands of dollars to collectors, is now being investigated by police in Western Australia.  Investigators believe the fossil could have been taken by an amateur collector or by someone who wants to sell it on the black market.  

It is just one of a small number of Megalodon specimens in the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area of Western Australia.

Arvid Hogstrom from Parks and Wildlife in Western Australia says the tooth’s whereabouts remain a mystery.

“The sharks have known to be extinct for 1.6 million years, so it

[is] at least that old.  It has been floating around on the seafloor for quite some time and been pushed up in the ranges and sitting there undisturbed for however long, and someone has come along with a bit of a chisel and taken it away. We are not sure where it has gone,” said Hogstrom.

The ancient shark grew to more than 15 meters long and weighed around 20 tons.

Researchers believe the ancient beast of the sea preyed on turtles and whales, which it would kill with jaws so strong they could crush a car.

The reason for the sharks’ extinction is unknown, but experts have speculated that Megalodon was unable to adapt as the temperature of the Earth’s oceans fell.

Wildlife authorities in Western Australia have circulated a picture of the missing tooth on social media as they intensify their efforts to recover the fossil, which is a priceless link to the region’s ancient past.

 
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