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Search For Salmonella Culprit Continues

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 July 2008, 09:00 CDT

The government is now intensifying its hunt for the source of the largest salmonella outbreak in U.S. history.

So far, investigators have not commented on what other vegetables are under scrutiny for the salmonella scare that has now sickened 869 people.

Some are worried the FDA is not doing enough due to the fact that 179 Americans fell ill in June, the latest on June 20-more than two months after the first salmonella illnesses appeared. That means the outbreak is continuing weeks longer than food-poisoning specialists had initially expected, and suggests the culprit is still being sold in the supermarket.

Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson said it would be, "irresponsible" to identify other food as the possible source without further research. He said they are only looking into items commonly served with tomatoes.

"Tomatoes aren't off the hook," he stressed. "It's just that there is clearly a need to think beyond tomatoes."

The FDA widened its investigation Tuesday by activating an emergency network of food laboratories increasing the possibility of additional testing. 

Disease detectives with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention interviewed people sickened in June to find out exactly what they ate. They also compared their diets to those of healthy relatives and neighbors. FDA officials declined to comment on the results.

One possibility the FDA is checking into is whether tomatoes and other vegetables share a common packing or shipping site where both might become contaminated. Another hypothesis is whether multiple foods might be tainted while grown on neighboring farms or with common water sources.

The tomato industry and Congress have recently pressured the FDA to quickly solve the case and find the salmonella culprit. Tomato growers have lost millions of dollars, and Congress wants to investigate the FDA's handling of the outbreak.

But Acheson said Tuesday there's a growing misconception that if tomatoes really were the source of salmonella, the outbreak would only have lasted six weeks. He contended that claim is simply untrue.

Dr. Robert Tauxe, a CDC food-poisoning specialist, said tomatoes were the immediate suspect due to "case-control" studies in New Mexico and Texas.

The studies compared those with an illness, to healthy people who share similar incomes, lifestyles, and locations. Tauxe said the initial studies showed about 80 percent of the ill reported eating certain types of fresh tomatoes, far more than the healthy group did. Statistically, the association was too strong to rule out a coincidence.

Some food-poisoning experts critique the CDC's approach, because researchers did not take the studies a step further to trace why some healthy consumers ate tomatoes without getting salmonella.

The FDA continues to urge consumers across the U.S. to avoid raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes. The only exception is if they were grown in specific states or countries that the agency has cleared of suspicion. Grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached are safe to eat, according to the agency.

However, even that advice is under attack because tomatoes are sent through multiple repacking and distribution sites around the country, regardless of where they're grown. But FDA chief Acheson said the advice would be changed only if new research emerges.

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt also expressed disappointment Tuesday that the case isn't solved.

Leavitt told Congress, "Nothing happens fast enough when you have a problem like this." He asked lawmakers for more money and stronger legal powers for food and consumer safety agencies.

Leavitt said,  "I feel confident we will find the solution to this problem."

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Image Caption: Salmonella, isolated from infected macrophrages. Courtesy Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

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On the Net:

Food and Drug Administration

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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