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Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak Expands to 16 States

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

Health officials have identified 145 persons in 16 states infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint

According to the CDC, States involved in this Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak include the following:

Arizona (12 persons), California (1), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (17), Indiana (1), Kansas (3), New Mexico (39), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (2), Texas (56 persons), Utah (1), Virginia (2), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3).

At least 23 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. CDC suspects that more than 145 illnesses have occurred:

Because of inherent delays in reporting and because many persons with Salmonella illness do not have a stool specimen tested, it is likely many more illnesses have occurred than those reported. Some of these unreported illnesses may be in states that are not on today’s map.

In response to this outbreak, FDA is expanding its warning to consumers nationwide, cautioning them that a salmonellosis (illness caused by Salmonella) outbreak has been linked to consumption of certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing these raw, red tomatoes:

FDA recommends that consumers not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes unless the tomatoes are from the sources listed below. If unsure of where tomatoes are grown or harvested, consumers are encouraged to contact the store where the tomato purchase was made. Consumers should continue to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home.

FDA has published a list of states, territories, and countries where tomatoes are grown and harvested which have not been associated with this outbreak. This updated list includes: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico.

To discuss a Salmonella Saintpaul case with an experienced lawyer, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free), email our lawyers, or submit our free case consultation form.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on June 08, 2008 (boomark / email).