18.08.2011

CDC Says 31 States Have Reported Illnesses

At least 111 people in 31 states have been sickened with salmonella in an ongoing outbreak of food poisoning tied to ground turkey manufactured by meat giant Cargill. One person has died.
The new total reflects cases reported between Feb. 27 and Aug. 9, 2011. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1), Arkansas (1), Arizona (3), California (6), Colorado (3), Georgia (2), Illinois (14), Indiana (1), Iowa (2), Kansas (1), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (3), Maryland (1), Michigan (12), Minnesota (2), Mississippi (1), Missouri (4), Nebraska (2), Nevada (1), New York (2), North Carolina (3), Ohio (10), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (5), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (2), Texas (15), Utah (1), and Wisconsin (4).

Among persons for whom information is available, illnesses began on or after February 27, 2011. Ill persons range in age from less than 1 year to 89 years old, with a median age of 21 years old. Fifty-five percent are male. Among the 73 ill persons with available information, 27 (37%) have been hospitalized. One death has been reported.

Collaborative investigative efforts of state, local, and federal public health and regulatory agencies indicate that ground turkey is the likely source of this outbreak.

Cultures of five ground turkey samples purchased from five retail locations between March 7 and June 27, 2011, yielded Salmonella Heidelberg with the outbreak strain.

Preliminary information indicates that all of these products originated from a common food-production establishment (Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation in Springdale, Arkansas). 

This is a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg. As of August 15, 2011, investigators have collected antibiotic resistance information on isolates from four samples of ground turkey collected at retail and from 20 ill persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg. The isolates from the ground turkey samples are resistant to antibiotics including ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, and gentamicin. The sensitivity testing results, to date, indicate that isolates from humans are also resistant to ampicillin and tetracycline, and some are resistant to streptomycin and gentamicin; however, the testing is not complete for all isolates. All human isolates are sensitive to several common antibiotics that are used in clinical practice such as ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Antimicrobial resistance may increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals.

On July 29, 2011, USDA-FSIS released a public health alert for frozen or fresh ground turkey products.