Contaminated-Water Action Plan Critical Prep for Hurricane Season

• In today’s Recommendations for Industry, we discuss why developed countries, including the U.S., need to see Nigeria’s cholera outbreak as a cautionary warning. Read more below.
• Sources: US to recommend COVID vaccine boosters at 8 months – U.S. health experts are expected to recommend COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received their second dose of the shot, to ensure lasting protection against the coronavirus as the delta variant spreads across the country. Doses would only begin to be administered widely once the Food and Drug Administration formally approves the vaccines. That action is expected for the Pfizer shot in the coming weeks.
• S. Department of Labor issues updated guidance on protecting unvaccinated and other at-risk workers from the coronavirus – OSHA issued updated guidanceto help employers protect workers from the coronavirus. The updated guidance reflects developments in science and data, including CDC’s updated COVID-19 guidance issued July 27. The guidance:
  • Recommends that fully vaccinated workers in areas of substantial or high community transmission wear masks in order to protect unvaccinated workers;
  • Recommends that fully vaccinated workers who have close contacts with people with coronavirus wear masks for up to 14 days unless they have a negative coronavirus test at least 3-5 days after such contact;
  • Clarifies recommendations to protect unvaccinated workers and other at-risk workers in manufacturing, meat and poultry processing, seafood processing and agricultural processing; and
  • Links to the latest guidance on K-12 schools and CDC statements on public transit
• Direct Financial Support, Access to Male-Dominated Jobs, and Investing in Child Care Can Increase Women’s Participation in Post-COVID Workforce, Says New Expert Consultation – The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic recession have led to major changes in women’s lives and employment, ranging from lost jobs to reduced working hours and increased caregiving responsibilities at home. Over the course of the pandemic, 2.5 million women left the job market, compared with 1.8 million men. Short-term Strategies to Address the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women’s Workforce Participationoutlines key actions for decision-makers to consider including short-term recovery efforts to mitigate harm to women and increase women’s employment:
• US COVID-19 cases back to pre-vaccination levels – For the first time since February, the United States reported more than 900,000 COVID-19 cases last week—with the country representing 20% of global cases—a sign the pandemic surge caused by the Delta (B1617.2) variant has stalled the progress made by an aggressive vaccine rollout that dampened cases this spring and summer. The number of children hospitalized in this country is now also at a new pandemic high, with confirmed and suspected pediatric hospitalizations at 1,902 on Aug 14, according to Department of Health and Human Services data, Reuters reports. Though children currently make up about 2.4% of hospitalizations, that percent is expected to climb as people 12 years and older are increasingly vaccinated, leaving younger children vulnerable to Delta.
• Young kids more likely than older kids to spread COVID-19 to household – a Canadian studypublished today in JAMA Pediatrics suggests that while younger children are less likely than older children to be the index COVID-19 patient in their home, they are more likely to spread it to household members. Children of all ages most often spread SARS-CoV-2 to household members 20 years or younger or 30 to 50 years old. When analyzing data on just older children, however, the authors found that they tend to transmit infection to older adults in those age-groups. Kids were more likely to spread the coronavirus amid COVID-19 testing delays (OR for 1-day delay, 1.24 vs 2.98 for 5 or more days). Larger family size also increased the chances of transmission (OR, 1.63 per person increase).
• WHO: $7.7 billion needed for COVID variant detection, oxygen – The $7.7 billion appeal—needed over the next 4 months—is part of the ACT Accelerator’s 2021 budget and would go toward increased testing and surveillance, oxygen supplies, and personal protective equipment. The funding would also support other tools to battle the pandemic, such as diagnostics and treatments, and include research and development to ensure that they remain effective.
• US wildfires associated with excess COVID-19 – US wildfires were associated with excess COVID-19 cases and deaths from mid-August to mid-October 2020, according to a study published late last week in Science Advances. The researchers looked at 92 counties in California, Oregon, and Washington—the states most affected by 2020 US wildfires—creating a distributed lag model from synthesized county- and daily-level data on fine particulate air pollution, wildfire days, and COVID-19 cases and deaths. After accounting for weather, population size, and physical distancing data, they say that an average daily increase of 10 micrograms of particulates per cubic meters each day for 28 days was tied with an 11.7% increase in COVID-19 cases and an 8.4% increase in deaths. In absolute numbers, the data projected that US wildfires were associated with 19,700 more cases and 750 more deaths from Aug 15 to Oct 15, 2020.

Food Safety & Public Health News:

• OSHA: Safe + Sound is a year-round campaign to encourage every workplace to have a safety and health program. – Safe + Sound Week(August 9-15, 2021) is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe.
• Source of Ivory Coast Ebola case probed – An investigation is under way into the source of an Ebola infection in a traveler from Guinea whose infection was detected in the Ivory Coast’s major urban center of Abidjan, marking the country’s first case since 1994. In an Aug 14 statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there is no indication that the Ivory Coast case is linked to an earlier outbreak in Guinea. However, further investigation—including genetic sequencing—is under way to see if the two events are connected.
• The new reality of USDA catfish regulation – Domestic catfish farmers wanted USDA inspection as a strategy against their foreign competitors. But domestic catfish prices and production have not improved with the change. And catfish imports to the United States increased by 65,000 additional tons in 2019 compared to 2015, the year after the Memorandum of Understanding was signed. The FDA no longer inspects, samples, or analyzes catfish or Siluriformes products but exercises regulatory oversight over all other fish and fish products. FSIS has jurisdiction over all wild-caught and farm-raised Siluriformes fish that are harvested and sold for human food in the United States. This includes Siluriformes fish and fish products that are imported into the United States.
• Studies shine light on Irish E. coli infections, parasites in Peru – Researchers have looked at patterns in sporadic Shiga toxin–producing E. coli (STEC) infections in Ireland. The Republic of Ireland often reports the highest annual incidence rates of STEC in the European Union. There is a high proportion of sporadic STEC infections and they are often associated with environmental exposures. The most frequently confirmed serogroups associated with infection were E. coli O26 and E. coli O157. Of the remaining serogroups, STEC O145, O103, and O146 were the only ones associated with more than 50 confirmed infections.

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Contaminated-Water Action Plan Critical Prep for Hurricane Season

The reports of more than 30,000 cases of cholera and 800 deaths so far this year in Nigeria, linked to the poor access to clean water, open defecation, poor sanitation, and hygiene issues carry a cautionary warning for the U.S.  While the use of potable water – from a municipal source or safe private well – is a fact of life that we should stop a moment to appreciate, there are times that this can be compromised.  This is particularly true with hurricane season ramping up, as the possibility of compromised water sources rises, often resulting in boil-water orders issued as storms affect the Southern and Eastern U.S.

In addition to cholera, waterborne diseases can include Hepatitis A, typhoid fever, giardia, dysentery, salmonellosis, and E. coli-related diseases. Thus, it is critical that both homes and businesses – particularly food businesses – have a response plan in place. One such example is the Emergency Action Plan developed by The Conference for Food Protection. While the plan is aimed at food service and retail establishments, there are sections of the protocol that can be applied more broadly.

TAG also can assist in the development or review of your emergency response/crisis plan. Give us a call to discuss.

• In last Thursday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed last week’s US Risk Matrix and the increasing case rates across the country. Read more here.
• There is a recent Delta plus variant that has been detected. It has been identified in the San Francisco Bay Area and also in Florida. As we understand more, TAG will update you all.
• The CDC is encouraging and endorsing vaccinations for pregnant individuals.
• The S. has eased COVID-19 travel restrictions for Canada to Level 2. The U.S. State Department and CDC have both lowered the COVID-19 travel advisory for Canada to “Level 2 Exercise Increased Caution.” However, “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisories have been issued for Israel, Iceland and France because of rising infections.
• FDA poised to OK 3rd vaccine dose for immunocompromised people
  • The Food and Drug Administration is poised to amend the emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines Thursday to allow people with compromised immune systems to get a third dose, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
  • The CDC advisory group is scheduled to meet Friday, when it may vote on whether to officially recommend a third shot for immunocompromised people.
• One month later: Maps show how quickly Covid engulfed the US again
  • More than 98% of US residents now live in an area with a “high” or “substantial” risk of Covid-19 community transmission — a CDC metric that involves case numbers and test positivity rates. A mere month ago, that figure was at only 19%.

• Delta Variant Updates
  • Achieving herd immunity with Covid vaccines when the highly infectious delta variant is spreading is “not a possibility,” a leading epidemiologist said
  • New data on coronavirus vaccine effectiveness may be “a wakeup call”
  • The Delta Variant Isn’t As Contagious As Chickenpox. But It’s Still Highly Contagious

Public Health/Food Safety:

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) have published a review of risk assessment tools for Vibrio in 2020, updating advice on risk assessment for Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus.