Salmonella Illness Toll Tops 1,000

Outbreak Linked To Tomatoes Is Worst In Years; Peppers May Be Implicated, Too

(AP)  More than 1,000 people now are confirmed ill from salmonella initially linked to raw tomatoes, a grim milestone Wednesday that makes this the worst foodborne outbreak in at least a decade. Adding to the confusion, the government is warning certain people to avoid types of hot peppers, too.

Certain raw tomatoes — red round, plum and Roma — remain a chief suspect and the government stressed again Wednesday that all consumers should avoid them unless they were harvested in areas cleared of suspicion.

But people at highest risk of severe illness from salmonella also should not eat raw jalapeno and serrano peppers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Wednesday. The most vulnerable are the elderly, people with weak immune systems and infants.

Raw jalapenos caused some of the illnesses, conclude CDC investigations of two clusters of sick people who ate at the same restaurant or catered event.

But jalapenos cannot be the sole culprit — because many of the ill insist they didn't eat hot peppers or foods like salsa that contain them, CDC food safety chief Dr. Robert Tauxe told The Associated Press. As for serrano peppers, that was included in the warning because they're difficult for consumers to tell apart.

In some clusters of illnesses, jalapenos "simply were not on the menu," Tauxe said. "We are quite sure that neither tomatoes nor jalapenos explain the entire outbreak at this point. ... We're presuming that both of them have caused illness."

That has Food and Drug Administration inspectors looking hard for farms that may have grown tomatoes earlier in the spring and then switched to pepper harvesting, or for distribution centers that handled both types of produce.

Also still being investigated is fresh cilantro, because a significant number of people who got sick most recently say they ate all three — raw tomatoes, jalapenos and cilantro.

"I understand the frustration" that after weeks of warnings, the outbreak isn't solved, Tauxe said. "But we really are working as hard and as fast as we can to sort out this complicated situation and protect the health of the American people."

Added FDA food safety chief Dr. David Acheson: "It's just been a spectacularly complicated and prolonged outbreak."

The outbreak isn't over, or even showing any sign of slowing, said Tauxe — with about 25 to 40 cases being a reported a day for weeks now, to a total of 1,017 known since the outbreak began on April 10.

Illnesses now have been reported in 41 states — and even four cases in Canada, although three of those people are believed to have been infected while traveling in the U.S. and the fourth is still being probed.

At least 300 people became ill in June, with the latest falling sick on June 26. Two deaths are associated with the outbreak — a Texas man in his 80s, and another Texas man who died of cancer but for whom salmonella may have played a role — and 203 people have been hospitalized.

The toll far surpasses what had been considered the largest foodborne outbreak of the past decade, the 715 salmonella cases linked to peanut butter in 2006, Tauxe said. In the mid-1990s, there were well over 1,000 cases of cyclospora linked to raspberries, and previous large outbreaks of salmonella from ice cream and milk.

The CDC acknowledges that for every case of salmonella confirmed to the government, there may be 30 to 40 others that go undiagnosed or unreported.

"The outbreak could actually be tens of thousands of people rather than 1,000 people," agreed Caroline Smith DeWaal of the consumer advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest. "It's certainly a disturbing event to have this many illnesses spanning this many months."

[stn_sage]

After being told it was the tomatoes, today we''re being told it''s the jalapeqos. Next week, it''ll probably be the broccoli.

Look, it''s apparent, they really don''t know exactly what the source is! Which means, they better put a few more inspectors on it, take a few more samples, and find out fast BEFORE it becomes a major problem.

This is one of those services government provides that absolutely must function efficiently and correctly. The food supply in this country has to be maintained uncontaminated and safe to eat.

I simply cannot believe all the unclean, tainted, and poisoned food events that have occurred under the Bush administration. They have failed miserably on this.

[marcpcbs]

Solving this mystery is a simple process of 20 questions.

Question # 1:
Who handles the food?

[marcpcbs]

Question # 2:
Who handles the food?

[Gary Kempf]

If the FDA were doing their job right, pinning down the cause of the out break would not be difficult....

[crystalblue3]

Anyone else thoroughly confused by vivaviva80?

[aciescott]

.00003% or 1 out of every 300000 americans have gotten sick. Why is this in the news? Seems like a lot of money and time have been wasted on this issue wash and cook your food thouroughly said once should have been enough.

[aciescott]

I appologize one too many zeros .0003% but stil 1 out of 300000 you have to admit is a very miniscule amount.

[tootall10142]

SIXTEEN THOUSAND people die in the U.S evry year waiting on the social security to do the paper work,this is a blatant slap in the face for the people who worked all thier life and now need thier govt. and the get pushed to the side for unknown reasons.dont laugh at this ,HOW OLD ARE YOU? tThe biggest war we face is with in our own borders and you are the pawns , how do feel tired ,screwed over,mad, sad, cheated,well so do the soldiers out there laying in the sand waiting to come home to nothing but paperwork and lies.

[dragonmouse-2009]

Oh good grief. That number is really really small. Most people aren''t even sure WHAT they ate and some of these cases have been reported AFTER the fact.

I recently read another article where they found it in peppers (jalepeno and another????) also in cilantro. Salmonella is in EVERYTHING.

I think too at this point some of these people are trying to "cash in" on the issue and may not exactly be telling the truth about what they ate.

[smiley676]

I simply cannot believe all the unclean, tainted, and poisoned food events that have occurred under the Bush administration. They have failed miserably on this.


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Posted by stn_sage

Is this a serious post?

[waterandsand]

i got it a month or so back from a salad and so did a friend. wasnt bad enough to go to doctor but it sure sukd for about a week

[lewiston14]

For every case that is reported there is likley 10''s of thousands that do not. For some people it can kill the for many more its just a few extra trips to the bathroom and forgotten. The people trying to figure out where this stuff is coming have had the funds cut by 7/8s a few hunderd people can not watch everything but YOU had no problem giving GWB another 165 billion this quarter did you

[jimchip007-2009]

Katie,

While everybody is doing the " Rube Goldberg Shuffle "
trying to figure out where this Salmonella is coming from, to the mix of veggies that I heard about on tonights show that they are investigating,
just add onions and you have " SALSA " !!!!!!!!!