Blue Bell Ice Cream Listeria Outbreak In The United States

Globalization and the associated advancements in technology and medicine have done much more to rid the world of dangerous and widespread diseases like polio and smallpox than they have to contribute negatively to public health. All-the-same, though, the increased possibility of global spread of disease is a an important and worrisome concern. I do not believe that the international flow of goods, food, and people should be stemmed for the sake of public health on anything but a case by case basis. As developing countries accrue wealth and political stability, health standards will rise and risk of disease will diminish. In the meantime, preventing the flow of goods, people, and food between nations will only slow development and inhibit freedom. …show more content…
With the advanced refrigeration and shipping technologies we have today, foods can be processed in giant plants and then shipped worldwide. This can lead to widespread outbreaks of disease if any machinery in a central processing plant is contaminated. One example of this type of outbreak was the Blue Bell ice cream listeria outbreak in the US this past year (CDC, 2015). This particular outbreak spanned the American West and Midwest, in Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas and occurred over the course of 5 years. Each instance of Listeria could be traced back to a Blue Bell production line in Brenham Texas. There were only 10 cases of listeria in this outbreak, but it provides an illuminating illustration of how modern technology can facilitate a potentially international or even global outbreak of disease. If giant corporations that ship internationally have one contaminated piece of machinery, people all over the globe could be exposed to an