Food Born Illness Beware

Salmonella toll tops 1,000; peppers now eyed
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON - More than 1,000 people now are confirmed ill from salmonella initially linked to raw tomatoes, a grim milestone Wednesday that makes this the worst food borne outbreak in at least a decade. Adding to the confusion, the government is implicating some types of hot peppers, too.
Certain raw tomatoes — red round, plum and Roma — remain a chief suspect and the government stressed again Wednesday that people should avoid them unless they were harvested in areas cleared of suspicion.
But people at highest risk of severe illness from salmonella also should not eat raw jalapeno and serrano peppers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Wednesday. Those at highest risk include the elderly, people with weak immune systems and infants.
There is evidence that raw jalapeno peppers may have caused some of the illnesses, conclude CDC investigations of two clusters of sick people who ate at the same restaurant or catered event.
But the jalapenos don't explain the entire outbreak — because many of the ill insist they didn't eat hot peppers or foods like salsa that contain them, CDC food safety chief Dr. Robert Tauxe told The Associated Press. As for serrano peppers, that was included in the warning because they're difficult for consumers to tell apart.
Also still being investigated is fresh cilantro.
"I understand the frustration" that after weeks of warnings, the outbreak isn't solved, Tauxe said. "But we really are working as hard and as fast as we can to sort out this complicated situation and protect the health of the American people."
The outbreak isn't over, or even showing any sign of slowing, said Tauxe — with about 25 to 40 cases being a reported a day for weeks now, to a total of 1,017 known since the outbreak began on April 10.
At least 300 people became ill in June, with the latest falling sick on June 26. Two deaths are associated with the outbreak — a Texas man in his 80s, and another Texas man who died of cancer but for whom salmonella may have played a role — and 203 people have been hospitalized.
The toll far surpasses what had been considered the largest food borne outbreak of the past decade, the 715 salmonella cases linked to peanut butter in 2006, Tauxe said. In the mid-1990s, there were well over 1,000 cases of cyclospora linked to raspberries, and previous large outbreaks of salmonella from ice cream and milk.
The CDC acknowledges that for every case of salmonella confirmed to the government, there may be 30 to 40 others that go undiagnosed or unreported.
"The outbreak could actually be tens of thousands of people rather than 1,000 people," agreed Caroline Smith deWaal of the consumer advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest. "It's certainly a disturbing event to have this many illnesses spanning this many months."

This article came from Yahoo. Be safe and careful until next time.
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A Family Wish

- I Wish You Enough - Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, "I love you and I wish you enough". The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom". They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?". Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?". "I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral," she said. "When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means?". She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone". She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. "When we said , 'I wish you enough', we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them". Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory. I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye. She then began to cry and walked away. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them but then an entire life to forget them.

This came from Uncle John

Until next time, take care.

A Little Family Humor We all Relate To

This came from Cousin Rovere (Keith)
Black and White (Under age 40? You won't understand.) You could hardly see for all the snow, Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go. Pull a chair up to the TV set, 'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.' My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning. My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice-pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli. Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then. The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system. We all took gym, not PE .. and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross- training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now. Flunking gym was not an option . even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym. Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention. We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything. I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself. I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. Oh yeah ... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed! We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked. Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat. We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we got our butt spanked there and then we got butt spanked again when we got home. I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck. To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known that? We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever survive? LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T; SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING. Pass this to someone and remember that life's most simple pleasures are very often the best.

Celebrate July Birthdays

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday।

Happy Birthday and much love to:

Mab Blanks Jr - July 3

Sherry Rose Tyree - July 9

Brandon Tyree - July 18

Ethel Tyree -July 21

Geneva Jones - July 25

Rev Dr Sylvia Bullock - July 25

If I've left any one out please let me know by email. Until next time!

Discount Tickets for Cedar Point

Hello Family. If you are planning to be in the North East Ohio area this summer and would like to attend Cedar Point (Amusement Park) I have plenty of discount tickets available. Normally the park's fee is around $50, with this discount groups can get in for $35 per person. And remember I'm not getting on no roller coaster! Until next time.

Father's Day 2008

Hello and greetings Family. When I was younger I couldn't imagine being without my Dad, actually it never crossed my mind. The things we take for granted. Many Men without children don't always know the responsibilities associated with being a Dad. Some don't realise until they become a Dad. So with those two things in mind here's a Salute to the Fathers in the Family. I have fond memories of not only my Dad, but also the other Father figures in my life. Happy Fathers Day. My Father said " a child is a blessing," I say a Father is a blessing! Until next time take care.

Celebrate June Birthdays

Hello and Greetings Family, This is strange but I only have one birthday this month on my calendar. If I'm leaving any one out please email me so I can post their birthday.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday,Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday

Happy birthday and much love to: Geraldine Todd, June, 14. Geraldine is Cornelius's daughter.

Until next time, take care.