Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to raw milk cheese in Quebec, Canada: use of exact probability calculation and casecase study approaches to foodborne outbreak investigation.

The analytical studies used to investigate foodborne outbreak are mostly case-control or retrospective cohort studies. However, these studies can be complex to perform and susceptible to biases. This article addresses basic principles of epidemiology, probability, and the use of case-case design to identify the source of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to raw milk cheese consumption in Quebec, Canada; a small number of cases with the same pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profile were involved.

Ceftiofur resistance in Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg from chicken meat and humans, Canada.

The Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance describes a strong correlation (r = 0.9, p<0.0001) between ceftiofur-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg isolated from retail chicken and incidence of ceftiofur-resistant Salmonella serovar Heidelberg infections in humans across Canada.

Regional profiling for determination of genotype diversity of mastitis-specific Staphylococcus aureus lineage in Canada by use of clumping factor A, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and spa typing.

One of the major concerns in global public health and the dairy industry is the emergence of host-specific virulent Staphylococcus aureus strains. The high degree of stability of the species genome renders detection of genetic microvariations difficult. Thus, approaches for the rapid tracking of specialized lineages are urgently needed.

Panton-Valentine leukocidin in pediatric community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections.

Purpose: Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) is an exotoxin produced by strains of Staphylococcus aureus (SA). Its importance as a virulence factor is controversial. We aim to further characterize the role of PVL in pediatric community-acquired SA infections.

Sporadic infections of Salmonella Paratyphi B, var. Java associated with fish tanks.

Objective: Identify a source of contamination to explain the increase in the number of cases of S. Paratyphi B var. Java infection.