Happy Sunday! What better thing to talk about on this lovely day than diarrhea, am I right?! Let’s do it! There are many different bacteria that have a sign of diarrhea, among these are Salmonella and Shigella. Both of these bacteria that cause severe illnesses sound extremely scary, and well, they kind of are. Salmonella has always been one of those things to me that I hear about and think, “that could never happen to me.” “Cookie dough is not seriously gonna give me Salmonella, give me another spoon full!” Well, I shouldn’t be so confident, and neither should you. Both Salmonella and Shigella can be spread in many different ways, and if contracted, you’ll wish you never would’ve ate that raw chocolate chip cookie dough, or rubbed that turtle on your face.
Doesn’t a pet turtle sound like a good idea? Like a miniature cute little thing that you can give kisses to. Well, actually, unless you enjoy having diarrhea, it’s a terrible idea! Food Safety News reported that between May 29th 2019 to September 3rd 2019, there have been 21 reported cases of individuals who have been infected with a particular strain of Salmonella, Salmonella oranienburg. How did these people get sick? Snuggling with their turtles, well at least a whopping 71% of infected people reported contact with turtles. Turtles can shed salmonella in their fecal droppings, and therefore contaminate anything it touches, water, their tanks, humans, the list goes on. These outbreaks have occurred over 13 different states, and the CDC is still closely investigating this, but they are pretty convinced those green little monsters are the reason for the diarrhea. It seems like common sense to wash your hands after handling animals and avoiding putting your mouth near them, but I guess I am wrong!
Shigella is another nasty gram-negative bacteria that causes bloody diarrhea in humans. Sounds fun. Contagion Live covered a story in May 2019 of an outbreak of Shigella in California and Nevada, attributed to raw oysters imported from Mexico. 16 people were reported to be infected, and 15 of those individuals reported to have eaten raw oysters. This study is interesting for many reasons, one being that the infected individuals showed several pathogens infecting them, the most popular being Shigella flenari and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Most of the other cases included some other strain of the Shigella pathogen. Though an investigation is still being done, it is likely these oysters is the cause of the outbreak. Raw oysters are already gross enough as it is, but imagine having a lovely side item of bloody diarrhea to go with it.
I guess what I’m really trying to say is wash your hands, stop kissing turtles, and don’t eat contaminated oysters, or really just don’t eat them at all because they’re gross!
Laura's Food For Thought 