Salmonella Outbreak May NOT be Linked to Tomatoes

June 30, 2008

Since April 10th, there have been 810 reported cases of Salmonella Saintpaul, all sharing the same genetic fingerprint. No deaths have been reported, but dozens of people were hospitalized. The illnesses were thought to have come from the consumption of raw tomatoes. That was until a bizarre statement from Dr. Patricia Griffin, CDC's Chief of the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch on Friday when she reported that this outbreak may not be linked to tomatoes after all:
"We don't have any evidence that whatever the source is, it's been removed from the market," said Griffin.

Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson said during the same announcement that tomatoes remain the top suspect.
"The facts keep changing here. The outbreak is continuing," he said. "We need to re-examine all parts of this system and make sure that the consumer message is still solid."

Persons infected with Salmonella usually develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection, with the illness lasting four to seven days. Severe cases can even result in death. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to develop the illness after exposure. Antibiotic treatment may be necessary in certain cases.

f the persons who have been interviewed thus far, those infected range in age from one to 88 years, and 47% percent of them are women. Most said they ate raw tomatoes from either restaurants or supermarkets before becoming ill between April and May of this year. But now the investigation is getting a bit broader and includes not just tomatoes; partially driven by the fact that the latest victim became ill on June 15 which is weeks after the government warning stripped supermarkets and restaurants of many tomatoes. Salmonella Saintpaul illnesses have been confirmed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

It is time that we use the latest technologies to properly identify food safety issues before the situation comes down to this - the possibilities of a mis-step which reaks havoc to a particular industry and causes both financial and trust damages.

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