The national web-based outbreak rapid alert system in Norway: eight years of experience, 2006-2013.

In 2005, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health established a web-based outbreak rapid alert system called Vesuv. The system is used for mandatory outbreak alerts from municipal medical officers, healthcare institutions, and food safety authorities. As of 2013, 1426 outbreaks have been reported, involving 32913 cases.

All-time high tularaemia incidence in Norway in 2011: report from the national surveillance.

Tularaemia has mainly been a sporadic disease in Norway. In 2011, 180 persons (3.7 per 100,000 population) were diagnosed with tularaemia.

Yersinia enterocolitica outbreak associated with ready-to-eat salad mix, Norway, 2011.

In 2011, an outbreak of illness caused by Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 in Norway was linked to ready-to-eat salad mix, an unusual vehicle for this pathogen. The outbreak illustrates the need to characterize isolates of this organism, and reinforces the need for international traceback mechanisms for fresh produce.

Gastrointestinal disease outbreaks in cycling events: are preventive measures effective?

In 2009, following a bike race, a gastrointestinal illness outbreak affected many participants. A cohort study showed an attack rate of 16·3% with the main risk factor being mud splashes to the face. Considering these findings, in 2010 recommendations to participants in the bike race were issued and environmental control measures were implemented.

Outbreak of Shigella sonnei infection in Norway linked to consumption of fresh basil, October 2011.

We report a Shigella sonnei outbreak of 46 cases that occurred in Norway during October 2011. Two municipalities were involved. A large cluster (42 cases)was concentrated in north Norway, while a smallcluster (4 cases) occurred in the south-east region.

Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 infections associated with bagged salad mix in Norway, February to April 2011.

In March 2011, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health identified a possible outbreak involving 21 cases of Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 infection with similar MLVA-profiles. Preliminary results of epidemiological and microbiological investigations indicate bagged salad mix containing radicchio rosso (also known as Italian chicory) as a possible source. As a result of the investigation, bagged salad mixes of a specific brand were voluntarily withdrawn from the market by the producer.

Outbreak of tularaemia in central Norway, January to March 2011.

From January to March 2011, 39 cases of tularaemia were diagnosed in three counties in central Norway: 21 cases of oropharyngeal type, 10 cases of glandular/ulceroglandular type, two of respiratory and two of typhoid type. Three cases were asymptomatic and clinical information was unavailable for one case. The mean age was 40.

Analysis of simultaneous space-time clusters of Campylobacter spp. in humans and in broiler flocks using a multiple dataset approach.

Background: Campylobacteriosis is the most frequently reported zoonosis in the EU and the epidemiology of sporadic campylobacteriosis, especially the routes of transmission, is to a great extent unclear. Poultry easily become colonised with Campylobacter spp., being symptom-less intestinal carriers.

Trends in Campylobacter incidence in broilers and humans in six European countries, 1997-2007.

The objective of this study was to examine incidences of Campylobacter in broilers and humans, and to describe seasonal variation and long-term trends by comparing longitudinal surveillance data in six Northern European countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands). Due to high degree of seasonality and autocorrelation, seasonally adjusted (de-seasonalized) and trend adjusted data (de-trended) were used for comparing incidences within and between the six countries. De-seasonalized time series were obtained by fitting the incidence time series to mean monthly temperature and then removing this effect from the data.

Shigella sonnei infections in Norway associated with sugar peas, May-June 2009.

In May 2009, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) identified a possible outbreak of Shigella sonnei infection involving four cases. Additionally, five suspected cases in two separate households were reported. Inspectors from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) visited the two households and found an unopened package of sugar peas imported from Kenya in one of the households.

Risk factors associated with the presence of Campylobacter species in Norwegian broiler flocks.

A case-control study was conducted in 2005 to identify risk factors for the presence of Campylobacter spp. in Norwegian broiler flocks. A total of 131 broiler farms (44 cases and 87 controls) were included in the study, and 1 flock from each farm was included in the statistical analyses.

Implementation of the Better Jobs Better Care demonstration: lessons for long-term care workforce initiatives.

Purpose: Better Jobs Better Care (BJBC) was a long-term care workforce demonstration that sought to improve recruitment and retention of direct care workers by changing public policy and management practice. The purpose of this article is to document and assess BJBC's implementation, analyze factors affecting implementation, and draw lessons from it for other long-term care workforce initiatives.

Design And Methods: We analyzed qualitative data from project work plans and progress reports, and notes from telephone and in-person interviews with project staff, coalition stakeholders, and state policy experts.

What do direct care workers say would improve their jobs? Differences across settings.

Purpose: The study's goals were to understand what changes in management practices would most improve the jobs of frontline workers from the perspective of workers themselves and to analyze differences across settings.

Design And Methods: The baseline survey of direct care workers (N=3,468) conducted as part of the National Study of the Better Jobs Better Care demonstration asked the following: "What is the single most important thing your employer could do to improve your job as a direct care worker?" We coded the open-ended responses and grouped them into categories. We then compared the percentages of workers recommending changes in these categories across settings and interpreted them in the context of previous conceptual frameworks.

[Ventilation hazard caused by a soft ventilation bag].

The introduction of a new ventilation bag was associated with the occurrence of an unexpected ventilation problem. The analysis revealed a technical problem related to the high plasticity of the new bag allowing incomplete obstruction due to torsion of the anesthesia bag.

Screening for tuberculosis infection among newly arrived asylum seekers: comparison of QuantiFERONTB Gold with tuberculin skin test.

Background: QuantiFERONTB Gold (QFT) is a promising blood test for tuberculosis infection but with few data so far from immigrant screening. The aim of this study was to compare results of QFT and tuberculin skin test (TST) among newly arrived asylum seekers in Norway and to assess the role of QFT in routine diagnostic screening for latent tuberculosis infection.

Methods: The 1000 asylum seekers (age > or = 18 years) enrolled in the study were voluntarily recruited from 2813 consecutive asylum seekers arriving at the national reception centre from September 2005 to June 2006.

Racial differences in parental reports of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder behaviors.

Objective: Accurate assessment of racial disparities in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) depends on measurement that is equally valid for all groups. This study examines differences among African American and white children in ADHD measurement with a widely used parental report instrument, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC).

Methods: Data come from 1070 children in the Fast Track Project, a longitudinal study of predominantly low-income children at risk of emotional and/or behavioral problems.

Occurrence of moulds in drinking water.

Aims: In order to determine the occurrence of filamentous fungi in public drinking water systems in Norway, water from 14 water supply networks from all over the country was sampled and analysed. Networks with both ground and surface water sources were included in this study.

Methods And Results: During a one-year period, 273 water samples were collected.

A case-control study of scrapie Nor98 in Norwegian sheep flocks.

Scrapie is a fatal, neurological disease of sheep and goats and belongs to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. In 1998, a new type of scrapie, designated scrapie Nor98, was detected in Norway. Scrapie Nor98 differs from classical scrapie in the distribution of pathological changes and of the scrapie prion protein, the Western blot profile of the prion protein, and with isolated cases usually being observed in the case flocks.

Multiple regression analysis as a tool for the identification of relations between semi-quantitative LC-MS data and cytotoxicity of extracts of the fungus Fusarium avenaceum (syn. F. arthrosporioides).

The cytotoxicity of methanolic extracts from rice cultures of 53 Fusarium avenaceum strains, which had been isolated from different host organisms in Northern Europe, Canada and Australia/New Zealand, was investigated in a rat hepatoma (H4IIE-W), porcine epithelial kidney (PK-15), foetal feline lung fibroblast, dog lymphoblast (D3447), and a human hepatocarcinoma (Hep G2) cell line using the Alamar Bluetrade mark assay. All extracts were screened for known fungal metabolites using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array and mass spectrometric detection, and both known and unknown metabolites were semi-quantified. Known metabolites that were determined in the cultures include acuminatopyrone, 2-amino-14,16-dimethyloctadecan-3-ol (2-AOD-3-ol), antibiotic Y, aurofusarin, chlamydosporol, chlamydospordiol, enniatins, fusarin A and C, and moniliformin.

Potential uptake of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from organic manure into crisphead lettuce.

To investigate the potential transfer of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from contaminated manure to fresh produce, lettuce seedlings were transplanted into soil fertilized with bovine manure which had been inoculated with approximately 10(4) CFU g(-1) E. coli O157:H7. The lettuce was grown for approximately 50 days in beds in climate-controlled rooms in a greenhouse.

Factors associated with mortality in Norwegian broiler flocks.

Our aim in this longitudinal study (covering years from 1996 to 1999) was to use data regularly recorded in a production database, to identify farm- and flock-level factors associated with cumulative mortality in broiler flocks during: (a) the 1st week after housing and (b) the rest of the growout (2nd to 5th week). A total of 1664 broiler flocks kept in 132 broiler farms were included. The average weekly cumulative mortality was 1.

A field study of naturally occurring specific antibodies against Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin in Norwegian broiler flocks.

Necrotic enteritis (NE), a disease associated with high numbers of the intestinal bacterium Clostridium perfringens, is common in intensive broiler production. Antimicrobial feed additives may control the disease, but their use is now being questioned in many countries. A field study was undertaken at the end of 1997 to study the level of naturally occurring specific humoral immunity against phospholipase C (PLC; C perfringens alpha toxin) in Norwegian broiler flocks.

An epidemiological study of the hatchability in broiler breeder flocks.

The aim of the present retrospective longitudinal study was to identify factors that significantly influenced the hatchability observed during the period from 1996 to 1998. Data from 112 Ross 208 breeder flocks in 39 breeding farms were included in a repeated-measures analysis with the flock-level "interval-specific" hatchability of the eggs as outcome variable. The overall mean of interval-specific hatchability in the study was 75.