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Tomatoes confirmed as source of Salmonella outbreak

Lisa Schnirring Contributing Writer

 

 

Nov 3, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – Federal officials said today they have zeroed in

on restaurant tomatoes as the cause of a recent nationwide Salmonella

outbreak.

 

At a press conference, Christopher Braden, MD, chief of outbreak response

and surveillance in the foodborne disease branch of the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC), said 183 Americans from 21 states were

sickened in the outbreak. Two Canadians also fell ill. Twenty two (12%)

patients were hospitalized, which Braden said was typical for a Salmonella

enterica serotype Typhimurium outbreak.

 

The organism typically causes fever and nonbloody diarrhea that resolves in

a week.

 

The CDC detected the outbreak 2 weeks ago through PulseNet, an electronic

network for sharing molecular fingerprinting (pulsed-field gel

electrophoresis) data. At the same time, states were noticing clusters of

patients who had the same strain and genetic fingerprint. The CDC said cases

in the outbreak have been reported since Sep 1. Most of the states affected

are in the eastern half of the nation.

 

The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now consider the outbreak

over, and they don't believe the public is at risk. David Acheson, MD, chief

medical officer for the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,

said all of the tomatoes associated with the outbreak have been destroyed,

thrown out, or eaten by now. "So there's no need for a warning for

consumers," he said.

 

A case-control study, which involved interviews with sick and well people

about their recent food histories, helped the CDC narrow the cause to

restaurant tomatoes, Braden said, adding that the contaminated products were

not linked to a specific chain or type of restaurant or a specific growing

region.

 

Acheson said the next step is a trace-back investigation to determine where

and when the restaurants purchased the tomatoes and to try to identify the

involved production facilities and farms. "It may be a couple weeks before

we have a common denominator," he said.

 

Several disease outbreaks involving contaminated tomatoes have occurred in

the past 7 or 8 years, Acheson said. The FDA met with Florida and Virginia

tomato producers in 2004 and 2005 to discuss food safety problems. He said

the next such industry forum, cosponsored by the University of Florida and

the Florida Tomato Exchange, will be held in Orlando at the end of November.

 

The Salmonella outbreak is the second major produce-contamination event in

recent months. In late August and September, fresh spinach contaminated with

Escherichia coli O157:H7 sickened 204 people in 26 states. Three deaths were

linked to the outbreak.

 

Acheson said he's not sure if produce contamination is increasing or if more

outbreak reports are due to better recognition of illness or higher

consumption of fresh produce. Braden said another factor may be the

increased centralization of the fresh produce industry over the past several

decades. Larger food-processing operations, he said, may face a greater risk

of cross-contamination than smaller, less centralized operations.

 

See also:

 

CIDRAP overview of salmonellosis

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/food-disease/causes/salmoview.ht

ml

 

 

 

 

Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy

Academic Health Center -- University of Minnesota

2006 Regents of the University of Minnesota