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Cases rise in multistate Salmonella outbreak
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A Salmonella Poona outbreak linked to contaminated cucumbers imported from Mexico earlier this year has affected at least 767 people from 36 states, according to the CDC.
The outbreak is one of the biggest multistate foodborne outbreaks in the past decade, Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, said during a telebriefing.
Thomas R. Frieden
As of Oct. 13, there have been more than 150 hospitalizations reported, with Arizona, California, Oklahoma and Texas each reporting one death. Additional infections that occurred after Sept. 15 may have not been reported yet, given the 2- to 4-week delay between illness onset and confirmation of diagnosis, according to the CDC.
Based on available data, patients aged 1 to 99 years (median age, 17 years) developed symptoms between July 3 and Sept. 29. Half of the reported infections are in children aged younger than 18 years, and most cases have occurred in California (n = 205) and Arizona (n = 118).
Since the investigation, there have been two recalls of cucumbers for possible Salmonella contamination. As previously reported, on Sept. 4, Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce voluntarily recalled all cucumbers sold under the “Limited Edition” label from Aug. 1 to Sept. 3. On Sept. 11, Custom Produce Sales voluntarily recalled all cucumbers distributed by Andrew & Williamson and sold under the “Fat Boy” label from Aug. 1, as well as unlabeled cucumbers packed into reusable plastic containers and sold in Nevada.
Investigators from the CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) performed antibiotic resistance testing on clinical isolates collected from six patients infected with the outbreak strains. The CDC reported that all isolates were susceptible to the antibiotics tested on the NARMS panel. Further testing will be conducted.