US issues salmonella warning
At least 37 people in the Northeast have been infected with the salmonella bacteria since last fall, including 11 in Massachusetts, prompting the US Department of Agriculture to warn Americans about consuming raw meat.
The source of the bacteria has not been located, a spokesman for the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service said yesterday, but the agency believes it is likely that the victims ate ground beef, some of it raw. "You're asking for trouble if you're eating raw ground beef," said spokesman Matt Baun.
Jennifer Marcone, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the first case occurred early last October with the most recent case reported at the end of December.
The CDC notified the Food Safety Inspection Service on Thursday that three residents of Connecticut, 11 people from Massachusetts, four from New York, three from Vermont, 12 from Maine, and four from New Hampshire had contracted the disease, Marcone said.
Salmonella, which sickens a million people annually, can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and fever in healthy adults; and it can be fatal for seniors or people with weak immune systems. Symptoms usually occur within eight to 72 hours of eating infected meat.
About 600 people die from salmonella annually, according to the CDC.
Marcone said no one has died from the current outbreak.
To avoid salmonella in ground beef, the USDA recommends cooking the meat to 160 degrees Fahrenheit and freezing or refrigerating food within two hours of taking it off the grill. Also, people should wash the utensils, kitchen surfaces, and their hands often while preparing food.
Baun said the FSIS is investigating the outbreak to determine where the bacteria originated.
"We need to find commonalities between the cases, find out what the patients ate, and if there are any remains we can take samples and figure out where they bought the meat," he said.
The last reported salmonella outbreak from ground beef occurred last December in Wisconsin, Baun said, adding that he did not know how long it would take to complete the current investigation.
