Tristan Kirk of MSN writes a south London takeaway has been shut down after inspectors discovered a mouse infestation and raw sewage on the kitchen floor (that’s late 1980s great hair, right).
Chicken wings were being defrosted in the filthy kitchen at Dallas Chicken & Ribs despite sewage leaking from broken drain pipes, Wimbledon magistrates’ court heard.
A routine inspection by Wandsworth council uncovered used toilet paper on the floor, mouse droppings at the back of the kitchen and on a chopping board and “visible faecal matter” coming from the drains.
Environmental health official David Stupples, who served a prohibition notice on the business last week, told the court: “We found that there was an imminent risk to public health. It was flooded with raw sewage, including visible faecal matter.
“The drain pipes could be seen emanating with raw sewage, there was also evidence of mice droppings in the rear section of the kitchen.”
He supplied photos of the filth, including a dirty mop bucket containing sewage next to the sink where the chicken wings were being defrosted.
Referring to the photos shown to magistrates, Mr Stupples said: “Faecal matter was visible in the sewage and there was faecal matter around the working area.”
As southeast Queensland experiences one of the wettest springs in years, rural residents are raising concerns about potentially contaminated drinking water after finding poisoned mice in their tanks, as the mouse plague continues to worsen.
Lucy Thackray of ABC reports frustrated landholders are continuing to try to reduce mice populations with rigorous baiting programs, but the problem isn’t showing any signs of slowing.
Louise Hennessy, from Elong Elong in Central West NSW, has issued a warning to other rural residents about potential health implications for humans and animals after finding baited mice in her drinking supply.
She made the discovery when she climbed up her house tank to check a blockage and was immediately overwhelmed by a revolting smell.
“It was so horrifying, I thought it would make a good picture to remind people to be vigilant about their water tanks,” Ms Hennessy said.
“We always filter the water going into our house from the tanks, so for us personally we feel we’ve covered our precautions so we didn’t notice anything with the taste. But the smell of the mice at the top of the tank was so disgusting.”
Dubbo Regional Council’s environment and health officer Simone Tenne said people often did not consider drinking water contamination.
“Rainwater tanks are perceived to be a clean source of drinking water, but they often have frogs in them, insects, a large amount of bird faeces which has come down off the roof,” Ms Tenne said.
“The public health sector recommends people do some form of treatment whether it be chlorination, a bit of acidification or some sort of filtration to avoid getting bacteria inadvertently through drinking contaminated water.”
Ms Tenne said health issues could be triggered by mice in drinking water.
NBC New York reports a salad bar blamed its building after up to eight mice were seen running rampant in its midtown location Sunday night, and said the store was closing permanently next month.
“We closed this store for several days to give our team the Thanksgiving holiday off and did not notice the issue in a timely matter. Rodent activity has been a struggle for the concourse area in general,” Just Salad CEO and founder Nick Kenner said in a statement of the Rockefeller Center location.
Kenner added that the brand would moving out of the underground location entirely at the end of December.
Rockefeller Center owner Tishman Speyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The mice were caught on camera by Eli Colon, who had just finished having dinner at a nearby restaurant about 7:30 p.m. when he saw something moving in the Just Salad.
He said he spotted about six to eight mice running and jumping inside the store, which is closed Sundays, and started to film. “When you see this kind of stuff you get very concerned for the health of the people who work there and the people who have lunch there every day,” he said.
In the video, the mice can be seen scampering around behind the counter in the kitchen. Colon has a 3-year-old with allergies so he was particularly concerned about the level of hygiene. sanitary grade of “A” displays mice like that and we were just passing by not searching for mice and those are noticeable. I’m sure there have to be more. Also questions about the standards and processes used by the sanitary organizations that rates these places and how reliable those are.”
Salmonella remains one of the most prevalent zoonoses worldwide. Although salmonellosis is commonly associated with the consumption of contaminated food, it has been estimated that up to 11% of Salmonella infections overall are acquired from direct or indirect contact with animals, including reptiles.
In 2016, an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis involving multiple cases, especially children, associated with reptile contact and contaminated feeder mice was reported in the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to investigate Salmonella external and internal contamination of stored commercial frozen feeder mice used to feed reptiles and obtained from the same supplier involved in the outbreak. In this study a total of 295 mice were tested (60 pinkies, 60 fuzzies, 60 small, 60 large, and 55 extra large). In this study, both external (integument) and internal (selected organs) contamination were evaluated. Salmonella Enteritidis PT8 and PT13 were isolated from 28.8% (n = 17) of the 59 batches tested, with the exception of the large mice category. Positive mice were mostly contaminated externally (92.3% vs. 26.9% for carcass wash and viscera, respectively). All isolates were sensitive to all 16 antimicrobials tested. The high level of external contamination of the rodent carcasses might have played a role in the human outbreak in 2016. Reptile owner management of the rodent carcasses at home could be an important source of salmonellosis outbreaks.
Collaboration among public health officials, pet industry, veterinarians, and reptile owners is needed to help prevent the risk of salmonellosis associated with animal-based food intended for reptiles.
Commercial frozen mice used by owners to feed reptiles are highly externally contaminated with salmonella enteritidis PT8, 1 September 2018
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases vol. 18 no. 9
Clara Marin, Francesca Martelli, Andre Rabie, and Robert Davies
Animals — primarily hares, rabbits and rodents — often die in large numbers during outbreaks of tularemia, according to the CDC. Humans can become infected several ways, including through tick and deer fly bites, skin contact with infected animals or drinking contaminated water.
Six grape harvesters at a Rhineland-Palatinate winery were likely infected when they drank contaminated grape must, a juice containing seeds, stems and the skin of grapes, investigators said.
According to the report, the harvesters — two women and four men — suffered from symptoms of tularemia, including swollen cervical lymph nodes, fever, chills, difficulty swallowing and diarrhea. They tested positive for Francisellatularensis, the bacterium that causes tularemia.
The investigators discovered that wine made at another winery from grapes harvested by the same mechanical harvester used at the winery involved in the outbreak also tested positive, “a finding that suggests that the harvester was the source of cross-contamination,” the investigators wrote. They said vintners confirmed that mice were occasionally collected by the harvesters, along with grapes.
“This outbreak suggests that mechanical harvesting can be a risk factor for the transmission of zoonoses such as tularemia and that raw food stuffs should be treated before consumption,” they wrote. “All contaminated products were confiscated and their sale prohibited by public health and other local authorities.”
Tiffany Wong of Fox 8 reports a video of rats dashing around a French Quarter restaurant is getting a lot of attention online.
Pest control experts say it’s a common sight this time of year, and businesses can take preventative measures.
The Facebook video shows several rats scurrying over counter tops, a cutting board and plates after-hours in the eatery. Some seeing the video for the first time say it’s no big deal.
“I would take that with a pinch of salt. I mean, it is what it is. I wouldn’t worry about that. I would just go somewhere else, I’d walk by,” Sylvia Currie said.
“I mean, we live by the river. There’s river rats, and I’ve been to a restaurant that has like, you see a rat running back every now and then,” Stephen Medina said.
Others, however, say there’s no way they’d eat there.
“We’re spending our good hard-earned money and actually bringing our families here to eat, and that type of distraction I think would be a real big turn off to people,” John Haluska said.
The State Health Department said they would address the issue if they knew which restaurant it was.
“Showing us the video of the rodents, yes, that can be shocking, that can be oh my goodness. It’s a shock value, but you’re not being helpful. You need to tell us where it is and then we can go in and do what we do,” said Tenney Sibley with the State Health Department.
The department said it regularly inspects restaurants, depending on their risk factors.
“If we’re doing a regular, a routine inspection and we come across rodents or rodent droppings, or some kind of indications there are rodents, absolutely. That’s what we would call a critical violation,” Sibley said.
Patricia Talorico and Meredith Newman of Delaware Online report a video of rats scurrying among among hamburger buns at a Brandywine Hundred Burger King led to the eatery’s closure Friday and over the weekend “due to gross unsanitary conditions.”
The video was posted at 7:53 p.m. May 31 by Wilmington resident Shantel Johnson on her Facebook page. It’s unclear how Johnson obtained the video at the store at 2802 Concord Pike.
Her post said: “Don’t go to Burger King on 202 (rats are) running all over their buns … (at) Wilmington Delaware Concord Pike.”
The state Division of Public Health Office of Food Protection received a complaint on June 1 and video footage appeared to show rodents in bags of rolls at the Burger King at 2802 Concord Pike, according to Andrea Wojcik, spokeswoman for the Division of Public Health.
State health inspectors went to the restaurant at 11:45 a.m. June 1 to conduct a visual inspection of the premises and the complaint was founded, according to a report.
According to the inspection report, rodent droppings were found on and inside of the hamburger and chicken sandwich rolls. The plastic covering and the rolls themselves were chewed by the rodents. Wooden pallets that the rolls were stored on had droppings on them, the report said.
Droppings also were found in the floor near the ice machine, the water heater, under dry storage, near syrup storage boxes and behind fryers, the report said.
Seven pallets of buns and rolls were discarded due to the contamination, the report said. The inspector noted that during her visit, chicken sandwich rolls were being used. They were then discarded.
In addition to the rodent droppings, the restaurant’s ceiling was leaking in the kitchen near the storage and food line, the report said. Flies were coming from a drain close to where the rolls and buns are stored.
A customer dobbed (that’s Australian for, to inform against someone) a popular Brisbane restaurant Les Bubbles to food safety authorities after a rat scurried past her during the dinner rush, a court has been told.
Melanie Petrinec of the Courier Mail reports embattled restaurateur Damian Griffiths was today fined $3000 and company Limes Properties Pty Ltd was fined $30,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of food standards.
Griffiths was overseas when the case was mentioned in the Brisbane Magistrates Court last week, and did not appear in person.
Instead, his lawyer made submissions in writing to the court to say Griffiths was “simply unaware of what was going on” at his former restaurant when the rat was discovered in October, 2016.
Les Bubbles is now under new management and a spokesperson says all checks and pest inspections were now up to date.
Brisbane City Council prosecutor Andrea Lopez said it was irrelevant if he was aware or not, and revealed it was a customer who raised the alarm with authorities.
“A live rodent during a busy dinner rush has actually run across the room in the restaurant,” she said.
“The rodent has been quite comfortable in the food business.”
Subsequently, food safety inspectors claimed to find dirty equipment and rodent droppings in multiple areas including under the kitchen bench, under a downstairs bar and near the dishwashing area.
Ms Lopez said the rat droppings indicated “quite a large presence of rodent activity”.
CTV News reports the pastries in the window of a downtown Toronto confection shop were supposed to lure hungry humans, but they ended up attracting mice.
Mohammad Valipour captured the ravenous rodents on video as they nibbled on a tray of baklava visible through a window inside Meli Baklava & Chocolate Bar.
He told CTV Toronto he believes he could also see feces around the trays. “It was disgusting,” Valipour said.
Co-owner Julie Kyriakaki says the building has a rodent problem but is adamant that none of the pastries that sit out for display are served to the public.
Kyriakaki showed off drawers full of desserts under the countertop that she says she and her staff use to keep the food safe from pests.
“Even if I didn’t have food here, the mice could still be on the window, because they go everywhere” she said. She also showed off mousetraps inside the store.
Meli Baklava & Chocolate Bar displays a green DineSafe sign in its window, indicating that it has met food safety standards outlined in the Ontario Food Premises Regulation and municipal by-laws. The sign shows the business was last inspected on Feb. 6, 2017.
The bakery has passed four inspections, the first in November 2015, according to online DineSafe records. It received two infractions in that time, one for failing to ensure the presence of someone who holds a valid food handler’s certificate and another for not having a test substance for ensuring utensils are properly sterilized.
The sweet shop, which is rated 4.5 out of five on the website TripAdvisor, is one of several food kiosks housed inside the Queen Live Fresh Food Market on Queen Street West.
Sophie Smith of the Herald Sun reports two videos showing rodents flitting freely around a busy McDonald’s restaurant in Melbourne’s inner-north have emerged.
A disgusted customer, Firoozeh, claims she and friends saw several mice around a McCafe service area of the Collingwood restaurant at midnight on Boxing Day.
Footage uploaded to social media appears to show at least two vermin scampering along the floor between a service counter and a back bench with sink. Another shows one ducking in and out near a stool.
In another video, uploaded to Facebook by Todd Gilbey on December 2, mice scatter along the floor — and one even grabs a chip.
Firoozeh said there were “lots” of mice.
“It wasn’t like three or four mice,” Firoozeh said.
“We watched them for a while; they were coming in and out.
“There were so many and the guy was just coming and scaring them and telling us that, ‘You cannot take video’, because I asked to see the duty manager.”
Firoozeh, who asked the Herald Sun not to publish her surname, said the duty manager at the 24-hour eatery on the corner of Smith St and Victoria Parade became angered when she and her friends raised their concerns.
“He was aggressively stopping me from taking pictures and photos,” she said.
“I’ve never seen such a dirty McDonald’s.
“No-one is cleaning it and it’s supposed to be open for 24 hours. What’s going on?
“I don’t think it’s healthy at all. They were running around and no-one was doing anything.
Chicken wings were being defrosted in the filthy kitchen at Dallas Chicken & Ribs despite sewage leaking from broken drain pipes, Wimbledon magistrates’ court heard.
