Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)
Food Safety Partnership (FSP) and
Partnership and Workforce Development Unit (PWDU)
QUARTERLY UPDATE
Volume 4, Issue 4, October 2010
SECTION HEADINGS
GERM CITY SLOW DOWN
Germ City Slow Down …………………………
1
“Bug of the Quarter” …..………………….....…
2
Training Resources .….……………….………..
3
Web and Written Resources …………………..
5
Food and Food Safety Matters …..….………… 5
Rules and Legislation…………………………… 7
Climate Change Corner………………………… 7
Environmental Odds and Ends ………………..
7
PWDU Staff Contact Information .................…. 8
FAREWELL, SUMMER; ENTER, WINTER;
WHAT’S NEXT, MINNESOTA?
Thanks to the efforts of 186 wonderful volunteers
who filled about 275 three-hour shifts, this year’s
State Fair adventure was a smashing success.
Approximately 27,000 people visited Germ City at
HealthFair 11 to wash their hands and learn more
about health and handwashing this year.
The two Germ City units are still available for loan to
any agency or organization in Minnesota that would
like to use them. MDH will support the use of the
units by continuing to loan them, and to provide
supplies (e.g., GlitterBug) at no cost. MDH staff are
no longer available to deliver, set-up or staff Germ
City events.
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
Page 1 of 8
BUG of THE QUARTER
Ixodes scapularis, Blacklegged or Deer Tick
Research suggests possible contributors to
the severity and increased incidence of Lyme
Disease in the Midwestern States and Canada
The second Yale study (Applied and Environmental
Microbiology, April 2009) suggests that climate change
contributes to increased severity of Lyme disease by
influencing the feeding patterns of blacklegged ticks
that carry and transmit the disease.
Photo, courtesy, MDH
From left: Adult female, adult male, nymph, and larva.
Background
The number of Lyme disease cases in Minnesota has
been increasing dramatically since the 1990s.
Minnesota Department of Health
(http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/lyme/
statistics.html) states that there are many factors that
may have contributed to this trend, including
heightened awareness by healthcare providers, the
geographical spread of blacklegged ticks (Ixodes
scapularis), and a higher rate of infection in ticks.
Two studies by Yale scientists describe additional
factors in the changing patterns of Lyme disease.
Possible Contribution of Bird Species
In the first study, published in April 2009 in the online
journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,
researchers concluded that more than 70 species of
North American birds are susceptible to infection by
the Lyme disease bacterium. Unlike deer, which
remain immune when bitten by an infected tick, these
bird species can pass the bacterium to unaffected
ticks.
The research team’s analysis of written records also
suggests that these birds are transporting infected ticks
into parts of the United States and Canada that were
previously free of Lyme disease.
(http://publichealth.yale.edu/news/news/2010/January/Bir
ds.aspx)
Climate Change and Lyme Disease
Climate change research has established that weather
affects vector populations and their transmission of
disease. It is well established that changes in
temperature and humidity may lead to changes in
disease patterns.
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
Life Cycle, Blacklegged Tick,
Centers for Disease Control
Blacklegged ticks have a two-to-three year life cycle.
The ticks feed once at each stage of life - larva,
nymph, and adult. Each larval tick hatches uninfected
but can acquire infection with the Lyme disease
bacterium from the small mammal or bird (“reservoir
host”) it feeds on.
That infection in a host would have been acquired from
an earlier bite from a nymphal tick. Long seasons of
milder weather in the Northeast, as compared to the
Midwest, say the researchers, lead to a longer gap
between the months that larvae and nymphs feed.
Strains of the Lyme disease bacterium that can persist
in small mammals for this longer period of time are
more likely to be passed along to larval ticks than
weaker strains. This increases the proportion of ticks
infected with persistent strains. Bacterial strains that
are more persistent in small mammals may cause
more severe Lyme disease in humans than the less
persistent strains.
In contrast, the shorter warm season in the Upper
Midwest leads to more of a seasonal overlap between
the feeding times of the larval and nymphal stages.
Therefore, bacterial strains in the Midwest do not need
to be as persistent, and may cause less severe
disease in humans than occur in the warmer
Northeast.
(Ticks, continued, page 3)
Page 2 of 8
Ticks and Lyme Disease, continued …
As climate changes produces a milder climate in the
Upper Midwest and parts of Canada, the Yale team
says that the implication is clear: shorter winters in the
Midwest and Canada could result in more severe Lyme
disease, and thus may account, in part, for the
increase in reports of disease in these areas.
Reported Tick-Borne Disease Cases,
Minnesota, 1986-2008 (n=11,441)
Number of Reported Cases
1200
1000
800
Lyme disease
Human anaplasmosis
Tick-borne Diseases in Minnesota
Disease types and statistics: There are several diseases
that can be transmitted from the deer tick to humans.
Lyme disease is the most common of these and is the
most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the
United States today.
Three other diseases resulting from the bite of a deer
tick have also been reported in Minnesota. Human
anaplasmosis and babesiosis are being reported with
increasing frequency, sometimes in individuals with
Lyme disease. The first cases of Powassan virus infection
in Minnesota were reported in several counties of
northern Minnesota from 2008-2010.
From 1986 to 2008, more than 11,000 cases of tick-borne
diseases were reported in Minnesota. The majority
(more than 9,700 cases) of these were Lyme disease.
Babesiosis
600
400
200
19
86
19
87
19
88
19
89
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
0
Year
Minnesota Department of Health
High Risk Areas for Tick-borne Disease,
Minnesota, 2008
One thousand fifty confirmed Lyme disease cases were
reported in 2008. A record number of 1,239 confirmed
Lyme disease cases were reported in 2007, and nearrecord numbers of Lyme disease cases were reported in
2004 (1,023 cases), 2005 (917 cases) and 2006 (913
cases). (Minnesota Department of Health)
Prevention: Blacklegged ticks are most common in
wooded areas of the state. When entering tick habitats,
the best form of protection is using a repellent
containing DEET or permethrin. More information on
prevention is available at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/dtopics/tickb
orne/index.html.
TRAINING RESOURCES
South Central Public Health Partnership
Thanks to Melissa Kemperman, MDH Foodborne,
Vectorborne, and Zoonotic Disease Unit for her
corrections, additions and alterations to this
article; for helping us to understand; and for all
the tick materials from the website that we used.
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
The Partnership offers free online training on many
preparedness-related topics such as: bioterrorism, food
as a terrorist weapon, community health and disease,
community partnerships, crisis management, health
risk assessment, infectious disease, risk
communication, and many more. A course list can be
found at:
http://www.southcentralpartnership.org/alphabetic
al_courselist.
Page 3 of 8
Mid-Atlantic Public Health Training Center
The MidAtlantic Public Health Training Center
(MAPHTC) is a collaborative project of the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the
George Washington University School of Public Health
and Health Services. The mission of MAPHTC is to
develop the existing public health workforce as a
foundation for improving the infrastructure of the public
health system and to help achieve the objectives of
Healthy People 2010.
Although the work of MAPHTC is focused on training
public health professionals in Maryland, Delaware and
Washington, D.C., its training events are available to
staff and agencies outside the mid-Atlantic region.
The most recent MAPHTC training, “Bed Bugs: Why
They’re Back, and the Public Health Response” will
be rebroadcast during the October 5, 2010 Food
Safety Partnership meeting. For more information and
other archived training events, see the MAPHTC
website at: www.jhsph.edu/maphtc.
International Food Protection Training
Institute (IFPTI)
Food Safety Partnership Video-Conferences
The most recent Food Safety Partnership videoconference was held on Tuesday, October 5, 2010.
The meeting featured presentations by MDH
Epidemiology staff on raw milk and recent foodborne
outbreaks, as well as a 90 minute seminar from Johns
Hopkins University on the public health response to
bed bugs. The archive can be viewed at:
mms://stream2.video.state.mn.us/MDH/foodsafety100510
.wmv For CEUs, contact Maggie Edwards (651-2014506 or [email protected]).
FSP meetings in 2011 will be held on February 2, June
8 and October 5, 2011. See past FSP presentations
and meeting notes at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/pwdu/fsp/ind
ex.html.
MEHA Fall Conference
MEHA
The Minnesota Environmental Health Association Fall
Conference will be held on Thursday, October 7, at
the City Center Hotel in Mankato, from 8:30 a.m. to
4:00 p.m., with registration from 8:00 to 8:30.
The Agenda will include presentations on hoarding, the
egg recall, infectious waste disposal, pesticide issues,
continual improvement, and MDH work with Certified
Food Managers course Instructors. For more
information: http://www.mehaonline.org/index.htm.
MDA Staffer Named IFTPI Fellow
The International Food Protection Training Institute
(IFPTI) has instituted a Fellowship in Food Protection.
The program for the first class of Fellows began
August 30, 2010 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Eleven
students, including Katherine Simon, Minnesota
Department of Agriculture, Dairy & Food Inspection
Division, will attend three one-week sessions
throughout the year.
FSP-Plus Short Sessions
IFPTI is a non-profit organization established to deliver
food protection training for state and local food safety
professionals. All costs for training and travel by state
and local participants are reimbursed by IFPTI.
FSP-Plus sessions will be held in April, August and
December of 2011. In April, MDH and MDA staff hope
to provide HAACP training for sushi and related foods.
More information, and the IFPTI Course Schedule is
available at: http://www.ifpti.org.
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
The next FSP-Plus training will be held on Thursday,
December 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Dr. Kirk
Smith from the MDH Epi Division will present
Epidemiology 101. The training will be available at the
usual FSP FSP-Plus conference sites and by
webstream. More information will be sent by email
some time in October.
For more information, or to suggest training topics,
contact Michelle Messer (651-201-3657 or
[email protected]).
Page 4 of 8
WEB AND WRITTEN RESOURCES
High-Risk Customers: Serve Your Fare with
Extra Care, National Restaurant Association
September marked the 15th annual National Food
Safety Education Month. This year's theme was "HighRisk Customers: Serve Your Fare with Extra Care."
Posters and training activities developed for this annual
campaign are based on the ServSafe food safety
training and certification program. The materials
communicate concepts clearly and quickly to
employees, and activities can be completed in less
than 10 minutes. Campaign materials are available at:
http://www.servsafe.com/nfsem/
When Every Drop Counts: Protecting Public
Health During Drought Conditions—A Guide
for Public Health Professionals, CDC,
September 2010
CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health
developed this publication to assist public health
officials, practitioners, and other stakeholders in their
efforts to understand and prepare for drought in their
communities. The document describes effects of
drought on public health, recommends steps to help
mitigate those effects, and provides a list of resources
and tools. The guide is available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/Publications/Drought.htm.
Minnesota Note: Though Minnesota weather news
this summer and fall has been more notable for
occurrences of tornadoes and flooding than for
drought, in 2007, the state had its worst drought since
1976. It was in the summer of 2007 that a wildfire
burned dozens of homes and businesses and 115
square miles in northeastern Minnesota.
Minnesota Drought
Monitor, July 2007
Marketing Local Food
Marketing Local
Food is a handbook
designed to help
Minnesota farmers
explore the various
options for marketing
local food. It
introduces the basics
of different marketing systems, suggests resources
and includes profiles of farmers who are selling farm
products locally. It also contains information about
selling indirectly via retail food establishments or food
services. Marketing Local Food can be found at:
http://www.misa.umn.edu/Marketing_Local_Food2.
(This item is repeated in this issue at the request of
several FSP members.)
FOOD and FOOD SAFETY MATTERS
Surveillance for Foodborne Disease
Outbreaks — United States, CDC 2010
An August 2010 news release from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tells us that
1,097 foodborne disease outbreaks were reported in
2007. State investigators reported 21,244 illnesses and
18 deaths as a result of these outbreaks.
For 497 of the 1,097 reported outbreaks, it was
confirmed that one foodborne pathogen was
responsible. More than one pathogen was responsible
in 12 additional outbreaks. For the remaining 588
outbreaks, a foodborne agent was not identified.
Norovirus was the most frequently confirmed pathogen
(39 percent), followed by Salmonella (27 percent).
The report also provides the data on the number of
illnesses linked to specific types of foods among 17
food categories tracked by CDC. Of these, the largest
number of illnesses were associated with poultry (691
illnesses), beef (667 illnesses), and leafy vegetables
(590 illnesses). A full listing of the number of illnesses
associated with each of the categories is available at:
www.cdc.gov/outbreaknet/surveillance_data.html
The full report is available at: www.cdc.gov/mmwr.
The Foodborne Outbreak Online Database (FOOD), a
searchable database of outbreaks reported to CDC
between 1998 and 2007 is available at:
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
Page 5 of 8
Efficacy of Glove Use Limited by Improper
Glove Use and Poor Handwashing Habits
Focus on Training Needs for Ethnic
Restaurants
Ewen Todd of Michigan State University and a team of
researchers from the U.S., England and Canada have
produced a series of papers on outbreaks linked to
food workers. The fourth in the series, Outbreaks
Where Food Workers Have Been Implicated in t he
Spread of Foodborne Disease, published in the
September issues of the Journal of Food Protection,
focuses on the limitations of glove use.
http://www.faqs.org/periodicals/201007/2068753051.html
#ixzz10x1aCI1f
Researchers say that gloves, properly used, can
substantially reduce the risk of food contamination.
However, glove use can also create a false sense of
security and lead to risky behavior and food
contamination, if employees are not trained and
monitored.
Researchers cite several key factors limiting efficacy,
including: glove punctures, over-long use and re-use of
gloves, presence of wet, alcohol-based hand sanitizer
under gloves, and use of gloves alone, rather than
gloves with handwashing.
Survey of Food Safety Regulatory Employees
Reveals Concerns about Resources; Political
Influence and Interference
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), an
environmental advocacy organization, surveyed federal
food safety employees to determine whether their
scientific work had been affected by corporate, political
or other influences over the past year.
UCS staff met with USDA and FDA officials prior to
sending the survey to 8,122 people who work on food
safety at those agencies. Almost 22 percent
responded. Of the respondents, more than fifty percent
had worked at their agency for 10 years or more.
The USC report contends that survey results provide
evidence, “that political interference with science is
significant in the food safety system, with
consequences for public health) and a “food safety
system where special interests and public officials all
too often inhibit the ability of government scientists and
inspectors to protect the food supply.”
The final report, Driving the Fox from the Henhouse Improving Oversight of Food Safety at FDA and USDA,
can be found at:
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_inte
grity/driving-fox-from-henhouse-food-safety-report.pdf
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
Researchers from Kansas State University set out to
determine what kind of training was needed to raise
the inspection scores of independent ethnic
restaurants. Their paper, Food Safety Training Needs
Assessment for Independent Ethnic Restaurants:
Review of Health Inspection Data in Kansas, was
published in the July issue of Food Protection Trends.
The group reviewed inspection reports for 500
randomly-selected independent restaurants in 14
Kansas counties. They compared critical and noncritical violations, inspections within 12 months
(including regular, follow-up and complaint-driven
visits), and violations within each category for ethnic
and non-ethnic restaurants.
Ethnic restaurants had more critical and non-critical
violations and more frequent inspections than nonethnic restaurants, particularly in the areas of time and
temperature control, and hand washing.
Study results concur with earlier research indicating
that current food safety training may not be adequate
to reduce foodborne outbreaks and improve poor food
handling practices in ethnic restaurants. Reasons
given include: failure of training to address traditional
ethnic food handling practices, high employee
turnover, and lack of resources.
About Eggs
The egg has joined peanut butter,
spinach and ground beef on the lists of
massive recalls involving staples of the
American diet. Among a flood of egg
articles, the following may be of interest:

Egg Factory, New York Times, August 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29sun
4.html?_r=1

FDA Inspection of Egg Factory Farms Mirrors
HSUS Findings, Humane Nation, August 2010
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2010/08/egg-recallfda.html

Timeline of Shame, Decades of DeCoster Egg
Factory Violations, Atlantic, September 2010
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/09/ti
meline-of-shame-decades-of-decoster-egg-factoryviolations/63059/
Page 6 of 8
Good News on the E. coli Detection Front
A study from a Purdue University research group,
Detection of E.coli O157:H7 from Ground Beef Using
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and
Chemometrics (Journal of Food Science, September
2010) offers hope for speedier O157 sampling results.
A new technique, using a combination of currently
available instrumentation, can significantly reduce the
time needed to identify pathogens from days to a few
hours, say study authors. Furthermore, the team is
already working on adapting the method to detect other
pathogens such as Salmonella.
The technique is also able to differentiate between
strains of E. coli O157:H7, meaning outbreaks could be
tracked more effectively and quickly.
CLIMATE CHANGE CORNER
Hennepin County Climate Change Report
The report of findings of the Hennepin County Human
Services and Public Health Department climate change
survey of hotels/lodging facilities, retail food stores,
and restaurants done in 2009-2010 is now available at:
http://hennepin.us/files/HennepinUS/HSPHD/Public%20H
ealth%20Protection/Environmental%20Health%20Service
s/short%20climate%20change%20082410.pdf
ENVIRONMENTAL ODDS and ENDS
Thanks to Salmonella in Frozen Mice, Snakes
Get Irradiated Meat Before Humans Do
New York Times,
July 29, 2010
RULES AND LEGISLATION
Legislative Activity Related to Food
Regarding 2010 Legislation: The changes to Statutes
noted by Colleen Paulus in the last issue of this
newsletter are available now on the Revisor of Statutes
page at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/ . Those changes
are:

Youth camps (fees), 157.16 Subd 3 (i)

Manufactured home parks and recreational
camping areas (fees), 327.15 Subd 3

School concession stands (fees), 157.15 Subd
14 and 157.16 (12)

Mobile food units (21 days requirement
modified), 157.15 Subd 9
Food Code Rulemaking
Minutes of the Rulemaking Advisory Committee
meeting can be found on the Rule Revision website at:
In May 2010, British
authorities notified the
Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) that an
outbreak of Salmonella
(more than 400 cases
in Britain since August 2008) were associated with
frozen mice from a U.S. company that sells them to
reptile owners.
CDC found more than 30 identical Salmonella cases in
the U.S. among mouse customers linked to the same
source. A recall of millions of mice ensued. The
company produces 80,000 mice per week, and
recalled a year’s production. The company has since
indicated they will irradiate the mice, rats and chicks
that they sell.
For pet owners who do not have access to irradiated
snake food, the Worms and Germs Blog at the
University of Ontario, Guelph recommends they we:

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/code/2009rev
ision/index.htm.
do not store or defrost snake food where it can
contact human food or work surfaces.

Food Code stream and archive addresses can be
obtained by contacting Susan Peterson
([email protected]). Each meeting will also
be recorded and available on DVDs.
keep all frozen mice, rats and chicks in wellsealed containers and do not use mouse
containers for human food, unless they are well
sanitized,

wash hands after touching raw reptile food,

disinfect any potentially contaminated surfaces,

(Oh, yes, and don’t forget to…) discard uneaten
mice, rats and chicks promptly.
For more information about meetings, the rulemaking
process, or the Advisory Committee, contact Food
Code Rule Coordinator, Linda Prail
([email protected] or 651-201-5792.)
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
Page 7 of 8
Study Comparing Two Types of Electric Hand
Dryers Finds Paper Towels Do a Better Job
Though the jury seems still to be out on the
environmental toll of electric versus paper hand drying,
University of Bradford (England) scientists believe
they’ve conclusively determined which medium does
the best job of removing bacteria from hands.
The Bradford study, published in the September 2010
Journal of Applied Microbiology looked at different
methods of hand drying, and their effect on transfer of
bacteria from the hands to other surfaces. Methods
included paper towels, traditional hand dryers, and a
new type of hand dryer, which rapidly strips water from
the hands using high velocity air jets.
They found that the relative reduction in the number of
bacteria was the same, regardless of the electric hand
dryer used, when hands are kept still. When hands are
rubbed together during drying, bacteria that live within
the skin can be brought to the surface and transferred
to other surfaces, along with surface bacteria that were
not removed by handwashing.
Researchers found the most effective way of keeping
bacterial counts low was to dry with paper towels.
PARTNERSHIP AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT UNIT STAFF CONTACTS
April Bogard Supervisor, PWDU
[email protected]
651-201-5076,
612-296-8118
Deborah Durkin, Food Safety Partnership, newsletter,
manual, food safety education and outreach
[email protected]
651-201-4509,
651-295-5392
Maggie Edwards, administrative support
[email protected]
651-201-4506
Nicole Koktavy, EHS-Net coordinator
[email protected]
651-201-4075
Lynne Markus, emergency response, climate change
[email protected]
651-201-4498
Michelle Messer, training, program evaluation,
standardization
[email protected]
651 201-3657,
651 775-6238
Michael Nordos, training, program evaluation,
standardization
[email protected]
651-201-4511,
651-775-6234
Angie Wheeler, training, program evaluation,
standardization
[email protected]
651-201-4843
651-373-7381
MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Orville L. Freeman Building
625 North Robert Street
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
PWDU Quarterly Newsletter
http://www.health.state.mn.us/ehs
http://www.health.state.mn.us/foodsafety
Page 8 of 8