And deniers aren't going to be able to escape this little side effect of   
   poisoning our environment. Hopefully there's something in the body makeup of   
   rightwing climate change deniers that is more attractive to the bacteria than   
   to others . . . .   
   __________________________________   
      
   'Climate change appears to be fuelling a rise in people getting sick from   
   food-borne illnesses in Canada and around the world, says a Canadian food   
   safety expert.'   
   ________   
      
   CBC News · Posted: Nov 04, 2019   
      
   Why climate change appears to be increasing the frequency of food-borne   
   illnesses   
      
   'I expect that we're going to see more outbreaks,' says Lawrence Goodridge,   
   food safety prof in Guelph, Ont.   
      
   The disparate causes include increased flooding that is washing contaminants   
   like salmonella, Listeria and E. coli onto crops, and rising ocean   
   temperatures that allow bacteria to flourish in shellfish.   
      
   "As the planet becomes warmer and the air temperature becomes warmer, I expect   
   that we're going to see more outbreaks," said Lawrence Goodridge, a professor   
   of food safety at the University of Guelph in Ontario.   
      
   While precise numbers linking climate change to food-borne illness aren't   
   available, Goodridge has tracked a growing number of examples of the link   
   between the two.   
      
   Last year in North Carolina, Hurricane Florence caused widespread flooding.   
      
   Floodwaters led to lagoons of hog waste at farms overflowing and contaminating   
   crops, said Goodridge. The contaminants in those floodwaters forced the state   
   to ban crops in flooded areas from being used for human consumption.   
      
   Destructive weather events like hurricanes can also cause a spike in   
   food-borne illnesses because of the widespread power outages they often create.   
      
   "If we can't refrigerate our food anymore, you know, as the temperature   
   increases in the refrigerator or freezer, the temperature of the food   
   increases and the bacteria grow," said Goodridge.   
      
   But climate change also has more subtle ways of harming the food supply. Over   
   the years, small temperature increases in the ocean have been connected to   
   hundreds of people getting sick in British Columbia, said Eleni Galanis, a   
   physician epidemiologist    
   with the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.   
      
   As the sea warms, it's easier for vibrio bacteria to grow and accumulate in   
   greater numbers in shellfish like mussels and oysters.  That's led to an   
   increase in the number of people in B.C. getting sick after eating raw or   
   undercooked shellfish.   
      
   Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the most common form of the bacteria found in B.C.   
   waters, causes diarrhea in humans that can last for up to a week and lead to   
   dehydration.   
      
   Galanis said that in the last three years, stringent restrictions have been   
   put in place in the shellfish industry to curb the number of people getting   
   sick. The industry now tests for vibrio bacteria and monitors water   
   temperatures where the shellfish    
   grow.   
      
   If a shellfish has vibrio, it is placed in a freshwater tank, and because of   
   how it eats food, the bacteria get cleaned out of the shellfish, which then   
   becomes safe to eat.   
      
   If a shellfish company notices the top layers of water where the aquatic   
   animals grow are too warm, they would lower the shellfish into deeper, cooler   
   waters to impede bacterial growth.   
      
   "I think that's a message of hope that we can counter some of the impacts of   
   climate change in our food sources," said Galanis.   
      
   Still, there are lots of hurdles to countering climate change's effect on   
   food-borne illness.   
      
   Goodridge said some studies indicate the warming weather will lead to an   
   increase in houseflies.   
      
   "They fly onto manure or feces, and then they come and fly onto food, so they   
   can deposit those pathogens on food," he said.   
      
   Despite concerns about food-borne illnesses increasing because of climate   
   change, little research is being conducted to determine how many people are   
   actually being made sick, said Goodridge.   
      
   He said while Canada has some of the best methods for monitoring food safety   
   in the world, few systems are in place to track how food-borne illness is   
   connected to climate change.   
      
   Goodridge said we live in a reactive society, so fears we'll only act once a   
   huge outbreak linked to climate change makes large numbers of people sick and   
   leads to deaths.   
      
   "I think if history tells us anything, that is the wrong approach," he said.   
      
   To change that, Goodridge and others have been researching ways to safely kill   
   bacteria on fruits and vegetables.   
      
   He said bacteria can be destroyed if food is cooked thoroughly, but most   
   fruits and vegetables are consumed raw, and washing them won't necessarily   
   remove harmful bacteria.   
      
   Researchers have turned to plants that contain naturally occurring chemicals   
   that kill bacteria.  Those chemicals can be extracted and turned into an   
   antimicrobial spray that can be applied to fruits and vegetables.   
      
   There are also bacteriophages — naturally occurring viruses that infect and   
   kill bacteria — that are increasingly being used to kill off bacteria. Each   
   phage infects specific bacteria and won't harm others, such as healthy gut   
   bacteria that help    
   people digest food, said Goodridge.   
      
   He says roughly one in eight Canadians gets sick each year due to a food-borne   
   illness, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.   
      
   "Even though we have a safe food supply, there's still much work to be done,"   
   said Goodridge. "As we increasingly see more [extreme] weather events due to   
   climate change, there will be even more work to do."   
      
      
   https://i.cbc.ca/1.5344687.1572652820!/fileImage/httpImage/image   
   jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/storm-florence-hogs.jpg   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)