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Salmonella Scare Ends

Posted on: Friday, 29 August 2008, 08:30 CDT

A salmonella scare that swept through the U.S. appears to be over, according to federal health officials.

The unusual strain sickened 1,400 people and put 286 in the hospital.

Federal authorities said jalapeno and Serrano peppers from Mexico were the main source of the outbreak.

Critics point to the outbreak as a growing need for monitoring fresh fruits and vegetables.

"It appears that this outbreak is over," said Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Preliminary epidemiologic and microbiologic results to date support the conclusion that jalapeno peppers were a major vehicle by which the pathogen was transmitted, and Serrano peppers also were a vehicle; tomatoes possibly were a vehicle, particularly early in the outbreak," according to the CDC’s weekly report on death and disease.

The outbreak of Salmonella StPaul sickened 1,442 people and may have contributed to the deaths of two elderly men.

Investigators detected the uncommon strain at two Mexican farms in the state of Tamaulipas said the CDC.

Salmonella poisoning causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps.

It is a common affliction, with 36,000 cases and 400 deaths each year in the United States alone. Nationwide, 76 million cases of food poisoning occur each year.

"This outbreak had some unusual characteristics," Tauxe said. "First, neither raw jalapeno nor raw Serrano peppers had previously been identified as a vehicle for a salmonella outbreak in the United States."

Tauxe said evidence early in the outbreak pointed strongly to tomatoes. The CDC believes they were likely contaminated, but that was hard to prove because fresh produce gets thrown out quickly.

The CDC said, the "largest food borne disease outbreak identified in the United States in the past decade, based on the number of culture-confirmed cases," and said more cases were likely to be reported.

Dr. David Acheson of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the agency needs broader powers to protect the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.
"We need Congress to give the FDA authority ... for mandatory controls for fresh foods," said Acheson.

"We need to develop technologies which will enable us to detect pathogens in fresh produce more quickly," he added. And industry must do more electronic tracking of products.

"Industry is responsible for safe products and tracking (them)," Acheson said. "The point is that not all industry is doing it and there need to be standards."

The Grocery Manufacturers Association supports a bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois. The legislation would give the FDA the authority to force companies to recall unsafe foods and would establish rules for ensuring food safety.

The FDA approved the use of ionizing radiation to help decontaminate fresh spinach and lettuce. "This should be seen as part of a solution. It isn't a silver bullet," Acheson said.

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On the Net:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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