PORK PRODUCTS SUCH AS SALAMI AND SAUSAGES CAN BE CONTAMINATED WITH HEPATITIS E - VICTIMS UNAWARE

Tens of thousands could be falling ill each year after eating sausages, pork and salami contaminated with the hepatitis E virus, according to Government experts.

Figures reveal that as many as 65,000 victims unknowingly contract the virus annually, with the majority thought to get it from contaminated pork.  Official research suggests one in ten sausages could be carrying hepatitis E, which causes liver problems such as jaundice and can be fatal in pregnant women.   And experts have warned that conventional cooking methods are unlikely to kill  off the virus.

The majority of victims are men over the age of 50, according to a draft report published by Britain's government watchdog the Food Standards Agency.   The findings come from the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food, which has investigated the threats posed by food-borne viruses.

 

It is calling for a new testing regime to understand the spread of the virus, which is thought to be present in 85 per cent of pigs, and an investigation into the cooking methods needed to kill it.

The hepatitis E revelation is the latest evidence of bugs linked to food and farms – including campylobacter, norovirus, ESBL E.coli, salmonella and listeria – finding their way to the population.

Often farmers resort to using antibiotics to treat sick animals, but this can lead to the emergence of superbugs that are difficult to kill if passed to humans.   Just this week, the Government’s chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, called on farmers to curb the use of such drugs. 

Richard Young of the Sustainable Food Trust said the problems result from cramped factory farms where infections spread more easily.  He said: ‘This is yet another example of how the unnatural way in which most farm animals are now reared is breeding diseases that pose a serious threat to human health.’

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is usually seen as a Third World problem, linked to dirty water. Historically, cases in Britain have been associated with foreign travel.   However, the virus is now being found on pig farms across Europe, including in Britain, as well as in slaughterhouses and even in meat reaching the high street. 

The report warned: ‘Early studies suggest there could be as many as 65,000 unidentified cases in the UK each year.’  And more than 60 per cent of these are now acquired in the UK – suggesting at least 40,000 may be linked to food such as sausages.

A team at the Government’s Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey, carried out swab tests in slaughterhouses, processing plants, two supermarkets and a butcher.  At the slaughterhouse, 13 per cent of faecal samples, 3 per cent of pigs’ livers and 25 per cent of workers’ hands tested positive for HEV.  More significantly, some 10 per cent of sausages in the high street – six out of 63 – tested positive, which suggests millions carrying the virus are going into kitchens. 

 

The team said: ‘Our study showed that in the United Kingdom, pork products with high-volume nationwide consumption might be contaminated with HEV.  ‘We chose sausages because they are widely eaten … a  10 per cent HEV detection rate in pork sausages at  point of sale could be a cause for concern.’

The draft report from the ACMSF group warns: ‘Such information as is available appears to indicate that the virus may possess a degree of resistance to commonly used cooking procedures.’   The report also makes clear that there has been a huge increase in the number of HEV cases acquired in the UK rather than through foreign travel – rising from 17 between 1996 and 2003 to some 370 in 2012 alone. 

 

And this is just the tip of the iceberg as the vast majority of sufferers are never identified.
The British pig industry trade body, BPEX, said the discovery of the virus in pigs did not necessarily mean it was being passed to humans and that the sausages surveyed may not have been representative of all on sale.   It added: ‘Thoroughly cooking meat is an effective means of further minimising risk

Source
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592090/Hidden-risk-one-ten-sausages-Hepatitis-E-pork-making-tens-thousands-ill-say-government-experts.html

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RELATED

Between 80% and 100% of pigs in the United States are infected with Hepatitis E

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12934945

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Hepatitis E Key facts

• Every year there are 20 million hepatitis E infections, over three million acute cases of hepatitis E, and 57 000 hepatitis E-related deaths.
• Hepatitis E is usually self-limiting but may develop into fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure).
• The hepatitis E virus is transmitted via the faecal-oral route, principally via contaminated water.
• Hepatitis E is found worldwide, but the prevalence is highest in East and South Asia.
• China has produced and licensed the first vaccine to prevent hepatitis E virus infection, although it is not yet available globally.

Symptoms

Although infection is frequent in children, the disease is mostly asymptomatic or causes a very mild illness without jaundice (anicteric) that goes undiagnosed.
Typical signs and symptoms of hepatitis include:

• jaundice (yellow discolouration of the skin and sclera of the eyes, dark urine and pale stools);
• anorexia (loss of appetite);
• an enlarged, tender liver (hepatomegaly);
• abdominal pain and tenderness;
• nausea and vomiting;
• fever.

These symptoms are largely indistinguishable from those experienced during any acute phase of hepatic illness and typically last for one to two weeks.

Diagnosis

In rare cases, acute hepatitis E can result in fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure) and death. Overall population mortality rates from hepatitis E range from 0.5% to 4.0%. Fulminant hepatitis occurs more frequently during pregnancy. Pregnant women are at greater risk of obstetrical complications and mortality from hepatitis E, which can induce a mortality rate of 20% among pregnant women in their third trimester.

Cases of chronic hepatitis E infection have been reported in immunosuppressed people. Reactivation of hepatitis E infection has also been reported in immunocompromised people.

Treatment

There is no available treatment capable of altering the course of acute hepatitis. Prevention is the most effective approach against the disease.   As hepatitis E is usually self-limiting, hospitalization is generally not required. However, hospitalization is required for people with fulminant hepatitis and should also be considered for infected pregnant women.

Read more -
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs280/en/

 

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The food you eat, how food industry treats and processes animals
Video "From Farm to Fridge"
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFlAR1rITpM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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