Contact us about food bug, say academics

A PROFESSOR of food science at Stellenbosch University says he wishes the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) would contact him and other academics working on listeria “to help share ideas” on the listeriosis outbreak that has claimed 36 lives.

“I wish they would start to get in contact with academic institutions such as ours and the University of Pretoria, who are working on listeria in different types of environments, because we have some information we’d like to share with them,” said Professor Pieter Gouws, who specialises in food microbiology.

This week, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi revealed that 36 people had died so far this year, with more than 550 cases in the country, from Listeria monocytogenes.

The bulk of cases were recorded in Gauteng (62%), followed by the Western Cape with 13% and KwaZulu-Natal at 7%, and the remainder from the country’s other provinces.

South Africa usually deals only with around 60 to 80 cases a year.

“We’ve done some extensive research on listeria in different food environments and we’ve graduated some students in that regard so it will be nice if the clinical microbiologists and the food microbiologists could sit around the table to discuss the way forward,” said Gouws.

Named after English pioneer Dr Joseph Lister, listeria is the only human and animal pathogen capable of causing a range of deadly illnesses including septicaemia, meningitis, perinatal infections, encephalitis, miscarriage and gastroenteritis.

Its death toll, said Gouws, is known to be the highest of all known food-borne pathogens, although listeriosis is rare. The listeriorisis bacterium can be found in soil, water and contaminated food.

“Healthy adults and children hardly ever become seriously ill from listeria.”

Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the national Health Department, said: “We’re very confident a breakthrough will be made as we have identified possible sources. We’re working with other key stakeholders, such as the Department of Agriculture, the NICD, private laboratories and food associations. There’s nothing to panic about – this is a preventable and treatable disease.”

WE ARE in the grip of a food poisoning epidemic that has affected a reported 557 people so far in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape – killing 36.

Until this week, when health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi announced it, not many South Africans would even have been aware of Listeriosis. It’s caused by the Listeria bacteria found in soil, water, poultry and cattle, milk and processed meats. Symptoms can present between two and 30 days after exposure and include fever, nausea, diarrhoea, stiff muscles and even convulsions.

For those in good health listeriosis can probably be shrugged off, but in people with compromised immune systems whether because of HIV and Aids, TB or diabetes, or for the elderly or very young, contracting it can lead to death.

Listeriosis is not unknown in South Africa – there are documented cases from the late 70s – but it has returned with a vengeance recently, especially in Gauteng. The number of 557 patients might be insignificant given the infection rates of other diseases, but taken against previous year’s incidences of between 60 and 80 cases, it is a staggering increase in a short time.

There is potential for a runaway outbreak, given the numbers of people living in poverty with attendant low to non-existent opportunities to practice good hygiene and access food that is properly prepared and stored.

The possibility of an outbreak was first raised by doctors at Chris Hani Baragwanath and Steve Biko hospitals in Gauteng in July, when they spotted an abnormally high rate of neo-natal cases infected with the bacteria.

But why did it take the national health department so long to brief the minister who then went public with it this week? We are left with a nagging suspicion that people are not just dying from an avoidable problem, but that this risk could have been eradicated entirely – a risk that would have been dramatically lower four, or even three, months ago.