More On Salmonella

A salmonella outbreak that has slowly grown to nearly 300 cases in 39 states since August has been linked to tainted peanut butter, federal health officials said. It is believed to be the first salmonella outbreak associated with peanut butter in U.S. history, said officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What Is Salomonella?

Salmonella is one of the most common foodborne diseases. According to WebMD, many types of Salmonella bacteria cause salmonellosis in animals and people.

What Are The Symptoms?

According to WebMD, the following symptoms usually begin from 12 hours to 3 days after you are infected.

Diarrhea

Fever

Abdominal cramps

Headache
These symptoms, along with possible nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting, usually last for 4 to 7 days, WebMD says.

What Are Some Ways To Prevent Salmonella?

Don't drink milk that is unpasteurized.

Don't eat foods containing raw eggs, such as homemade caesar salad dressing, cookie dough, and hollandaise sauce, or drink homemade eggnog made with raw eggs.

Handle raw eggs carefully.

Keep eggs refrigerated.

Throw away cracked or dirty eggs.

Wash hands immediately after handling raw poultry or raw eggs.

What Peanut Butter May Be Contaminated?

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter because of the risk of contamination. The affected jars have a product code on the lid that begins with the number "2111." The affected jars are made by ConAgra in a single facility in Sylvester, Ga., the FDA said.

To Learn More About Salmonella:

• You can read more about the food poisoning from WebMD.com.

• The Centers for Disease Control has additional information about detecting salmonella.