CDC Probes Salmonella Outbreak

Health Officials Say Bacteria May Have Spread Through Some Form Of Produce

(AP)  A salmonella outbreak potentially linked to produce has sickened at least 172 people in 18 states, health officials said Monday.

Health officials think the bacteria may have spread through some form of produce — the list of suspects includes tomatoes. But the illnesses have not been tied to any specific product, chain, restaurants or supermarkets.

No one has died in the outbreak, which stems from a common form of salmonella bacteria. Eleven people have been hospitalized, health officials said.

"We're very early in the investigation," said Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC first detected the outbreak two weeks ago through a national computer lab system that looks for patterns and matches in reports of food-borne illness. The Food and Drug Administration has joined the investigation and will try to help trace the outbreak to its origin.

Most of the cases are in adults, and more than 60 percent are women, said Dr. Chris Braden, a CDC epidemiologist investigating the outbreak.

The states involved are Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Salmonella generally causes a nonfatal, diarrhea-causing illness. Other symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever and headache.

There are about 2,500 types of salmonella. The type in this outbreak — Salmonella typhimurium — is one of the most common, Braden said.

People can catch the infection from many different sources, including water, soil, insects, factory surfaces, kitchen surfaces, animal feces, and raw meats, poultry and seafood.

Outbreaks of food-borne illness have repeatedly made headlines this year. Certain brands of packaged spinach, lettuce, carrot juice, beef and unpasteurized milk recently were recalled after they were found to be tainted with illness-causing bacteria.

The most serious outbreak, first reported in September, involved spinach tainted with E. coli bacteria that killed three people and sickened more than 200.

Health officials estimate that more than 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis occur in the United States each year. About 1.3 million of those cases come from food, Braden said.

[tonyclooney]

In order to protect our food supply, we must address vulnerability gaps in our current system at any point along the distribution chain up to the consumer that would allow accidental contamination of fresh produce.

I am well aware of what they are and can provide solutions to help prevent this ongoing problem.

I spent fifteen years as an Executive Vice President for a major terminal business on the East Coast. My primary responsibility was purchasing millions of dollars in California vegetables a year, including Mexico during the winter.

I know how this works.

I notified the CDC in late 2003 that green onions were the likely source of the hepatitis A outbreak and that they were from Mexico, several days before the FDA banned the importation of green onions into the United States.

Over the years I have followed the recent contamination of tomatoes and more recently spinach. My knowledge is based on experience and facts.

Specific aspects of the industry are severely outdated.

The Federal Government must update regulation of the industry to properly empower the USDA.

Teh media needs to step up to the plate and report the facts. feel free to e-mail me anytime.

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HEY MEDICAL COMMUNITY, CURE ANYTHING THEN GET BACK TO ME! you pimps

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Medical Field Cure something anything then get back to me.

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Be Scared, look a shining thing over there, don't look at how messed up the Bush Administration has made America.