At the beginning of 2018, Food Safety News published the breaking news about Salmonella found in pet food (Desk, 2018). The issue is that the company Raws for Paws is recalling a party of its pet food because there is a possibility that the food is contaminated with Salmonella. Moreover, two children have already been infected with Salmonella due to the contact with this pet food. This information is disturbing because Salmonella is a pathogen microbe considered to be one of the major causes of diarrheal diseases (World Health Organization, 2018). Salmonella is common for wild and domestic animals, food animals in particular. The factors contributing to the spread of the organism include violation of the food chain control measures, poor hygiene, and contact with animals carrying Salmonella. Salmonella as a leading foodborne pathogen is cultured in laboratories to develop effective treatment strategies (World Health Organization, 2018).
The abovementioned article reports on the actions taken by the company as soon as the problem was identified. The two children that were infected live in the same household. The consequences of the case are not favorable for one of the children because he got septicemia which is a blood infection, and osteomyelitis, a dangerous bone infection (Desk, 2018). The Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture proved the coincidence of the Salmonella strain found in the children and the one revealed in four samples of pet food. After that, the company started informing the clients about the danger and recalled their product.
The case is of great epidemiologic significance because Salmonella provides a hazard to the health of humans and animals. It is particularly dangerous because the microbe can be found in diverse locations all over the world. For example, the case of Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak in 2017, which touched some countries of the European Union, was caused by the consumption of eggs that came from Poland (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2017).
Another problem with the pet food distributed by Raws for Paws was the fact that manufacture date was not indicated on the individual plastic packages. Thus, the customers had to throw away the packages they purchased after October 12, the day when the infected pet food was manufactured. The case with Raws for Paws is not unique. The FDA study indicated 15 Salmonella cases out of 196 samples of pet food for the period from 2010 to 2012 (Desk, 2018).
References
Desk, N. (2018). Dog food recalled for Salmonella; Two children confirmed sick.Food Safety News. Web.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. (2017). Multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to Polish eggs. Web.
World Health Organization. (2018). Salmonella (Non-typhoidal).Web.