Oh Em GEE

[granfire]

Peoplez are getting sick and dieing...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43248315/ns/health-food_safety/?GT1=43001

Not to trivialize the severity of the illness, but in the same time frame the infection claimed 17 out of roughly 80 million people, a couple hundred were lost to such things as traffic accidents (and other illnesses).

Yes, E.Coli is a matter worth investigating.

But...are we leading such sheltered lives that the idea of death via disease is so foreign to us?

 

[bushidomartialarts]

I think that's something to be proud of, just like how death by violence is rare and terrible in our society.

 

[Nomad]

It's always a concern when otherwise healthy people are brought down by a previously unknown strain (specific serotype of E. Coli) of bacteria that is quite infectious and virulent. The question is whether this is a fairly isolated incident, or the start of a new pandemic as the bacteria spreads.

Often, quick pro-active action can be quite beneficial in limiting the damage or reducing the casualties, although to the public it can look like another threat that just "fizzled out" (see SARS, H1N1 swine flu, etc.)

The reaction (by CDC, governments restricting imports, and so on) all comes down to a risk/benefit analysis on factors which often aren't easy to estimate in the first place. The big question (which is often not answerable) is what would the consequences have been in these epidemics if no action to halt their spread was taken?

 

[RandomPhantom700]

Honestly, I don't know if 17 cases are worth worrying about. Ask the professionals. :shrug:

 

[Nomad]

Honestly, I don't know if 17 cases are worth worrying about. Ask the professionals. :shrug:

Well, it's 17 confirmed deaths with this as the cause so far; thousands have been made ill by the same bacteria outbreak.

IMO it's definitely cause for concern, and warrants taking some preventative measures to try to slow or stop the spread of the infection, but definitely not worth panicking about, as some media reports may be encouraging through their alarmist coverage.

 

[granfire]

Sadly we are plagued with alarmist 'news' in these cases...
I wonder when the travel advisories come out.

I think people (media, mostly) is too eager to throw around words like 'outbreak' 'epidemic' or - better yet - 'pandemic' around.
We have supersized the vocabulary while the incident of disease has shrunken.

We are too doggone lucky in that perspective I suppose, we are losing perspective.

(traffic deaths are an epidemic, obesity is past pandemic state)

 

[Sukerkin]

To give a little perspective:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol5no5/mead.htm

 

[granfire]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43288640

Nothing like some good old armchair quarterbacking....

I suppose since the Old Country has seldom any food 'epidemics' they need the advice of those who have one every other day, right?