Salmonella Outbreak Hits 42 States

Salmonella Outbreak CDC: Nearly 400 People Sickened; Bacteria May Be Cause Of One Elderly Woman's Death

by Associated Press

Published: Fri, January 09, 2009 - 11:15 am CST Last Updated: Fri, January 09, 2009 - 11:17 am CST

(AP) A nationwide salmonella outbreak that has struck Ohio and 41 other states has put about one in five of its victims in the hospital, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Nearly 400 people have become ill in the outbreak that might have killed one person. An elderly woman in Minnesota had the infection when she died, although it's not clear that salmonella was the cause, a health department spokesman there said.

The same type of salmonella bacteria has been lab-confirmed in 388 cases nationwide, said the CDC, which is leading the investigation but has not yet released the list of states or determined which foods may have caused people to become sick.

However, health officials in California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio have confirmed cases. Ohio and California reported the most, with 51 cases each.

Nationally, all the illnesses began between Sept. 3 and Dec. 29, but most of the people grew sick after Oct. 1.

Most people develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment.

Officials say steps to protect against the illness include careful handling and preparation of raw meat, and frequent hand washing.

CDC officials say the cases in the outbreak have all been genetically fingerprinted as the Typhimurium type, which is among the most common forms of salmonella food poisoning. Of those cases for which CDC officials have medical treatment information, 18 percent were hospitalized.

A Connecticut congresswoman on Thursday said she was frustrated that health officials don't yet know how the bacteria have been spreading.

Not knowing what food is responsible means the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the U.S. Department of Agriculture cannot help track the original source, said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat who chairs the Agriculture-FDA appropriations subcommittee.

"Any delays in these critical investigations can sicken more people," DeLauro said in a statement.

But foodborne illness investigations can be very complicated, and it can take weeks or months for health officials to interview patients, find common links in what they ate, test suspected foods and come up with a clear-cut cause, said Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety.

"There's a lot more to this than meets the eye," he said.

There are about 2,000 types of salmonella and about 40,000 cases are reported each year.

Of lab-confirmed cases, salmonella Typhimurium is the most common. The bacteria type is a year-round threat because it's found in meat and eggs, and not as subject to seasonal food supply variations as produce.

The current outbreak's bacteria are different from the salmonella Saintpaul bug that caused more than 1,400 illnesses last spring and summer. That was traced to vegetables from Mexico - jalapeno and serrano peppers and possibly certain types of tomatoes.

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cork Says:

Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 8:18 am

You have to consider it’s not the human waste but the chemicals from cleaning products, rat poisoning or unused pills that people poor down their toilets, these results in the farmers are not giving it time to process from the sun and earth. Any fruit like tomatoes or peanuts (PEANUT BUTTER) sits on the ground or IN the ground that’s where the contamination comes from. Pensacola was dumping truck loads on farm fields 3 years ago in Baldwin County and was caught by a lady who was following the truck and it splashed all over her car, she reported it to the authorities. This act was not even being monitored by the EPA because the company never reported what they were doing and they were fined. Until people say enough is enough it will continue and people will wonder why they are sick or they have the attitude it will not happen to me and I will just not eat it.

Sirk Says:

Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 5:40 pm

Right on Cork. Grand Bay has fields that are “fertilized” by human waste from the City of Mobile. I don’t care if it was fertilized for soybeans, peanuts, etc., its just not sanitary and needs to be stopped.

Maybe everyone who does not have city sewer should just plant their own gardens and let their septic tank drain into their garden. That’s about as much sense as having Mobile city sewer in your fields. It’s just nasty. I would rather have cow fertilizer in my field than to know it came from another human.

cork Says:

Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 1:17 pm

If you want to know what’s causing the salmonella outbreak it’s not pin point to one item or one food but several different foods. As many people do not know that we now fertilize fields, food, grass, hay, wheat, etc, with human waste, that’s right. The waste from sewage is being processed and pumped to fields as fertilizer. It’s cheaper and it waters the fields without irrigation. According the EPA land that is pumped from sewage tanks or holding ponds are not suppose to be processed for 1 year so that the sun and earth does it’s thing, but we are to greedy. They never said what happen with the tomato’s last summer and where it came from. Some farmer was in a hurry and planted and pulled the tomatos too early. Check it out with the EPA!You want safe food start growing your own.