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Some 388 people have been sickened in a new, nationwide outbreak of the bacterial illness salmonella. The source of the infection, which is typically spread through consumption of contaminated food, is unknown.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating the outbreak, which has hit 42 states since September. Ohio has reported more than 50 cases of salmonella since October, the Associated Press reports.

This strain of the illness, Salmonella typhimurium, usually comes from poultry, cheese and eggs, and the CDC is advising people not to eat raw or undercooked meat or un-pasteurized dairy products, to scrub their hands after touching raw meat and to thoroughly wash any produce.

Still, the agency’s disease trackers, who were criticized for taking three months to trace another large salmonella outbreak last spring to Mexican Serrano peppers, haven’t determined the latest outbreak’s origin. They mistakenly blamed tomatoes for last year’s scourge, costing growers $100 million in sales.

Salmonella causes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps that can last four to seven days. While most people recover on their own, some require hospitalization, as have 18 percent of patients in the latest outbreak, CDC officials say. The food poisoning is potentially fatal if the bacteria spreads from the intestines to the blood and other organ systems. The elderly, infants and people with weakened immune systems are most vulnerable to a severe illness, which can usually be treated with antibiotics.

Image © iStockphoto/Feng Yu

3 Comments

1. 1. danarothrock 08:30 PM 1/8/09

   Can anyone explain why CDC and FDA can't find the source of the continuing Salmonella epidemic?
   
   Are they protecting American citizens or NAFTA farms?
   
   If it was an American farm, I would expect the source to be determined quickly.
   
   http://www.the-scientist.com/templates/trackable/display/news.jsp?type=news&o_url=news/display/52917&id=52917
   
   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to close 7 of 13 field labs that test food and drugs for compliance with FDA safety standards. FDA employees were notified yesterday (February 27) of the closures, which are part of an effort to restructure the agency's Office of Regulatory Affairs.
   
   As predicted by FDA insiders, labs located in Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Winchester (Massachusetts) will close. Facilities in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Jefferson (Arkansas), Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle will remain open.
   

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2. 2. jh443 01:51 PM 1/9/09

   Governmental agencies protect only one thing: Themselves. As you pointed out, they're not even doing THIS job very well, as evidenced by the closing of field labs.

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3. 3. ZenaV 11:36 PM 1/10/09

   Another consequence of 'Free-Trade'. That's why they created this world-wide agencies to cover their tracks and plead ignorance or incompetence. Ever look up the CDC??

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