I spent Wednesday through Friday in Des Moines finishing up the last of the Fareway/Triple T Salmonella outbreak that sickened nearly 300 that occurred in 2018. Heading home last night, my phone and email caught fire with chatter of two new outbreaks – one E. coli linked to ground beef produced by as yet unknown producer, and the other a Salmonella outbreak linked to the same cut fruit producer who sickened over 75 with Salmonella in 2018. It will be a busy weekend.
As of April 12, 2019, 109 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O103 have been reported from six states – Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia.
Illnesses started on dates from March 2, 2019, to March 26, 2019. Ill people range in age from less than 1 year to 83 years, with a median age of 18. Fifty-three percent are female. Of 81 people with information available, 17 have been hospitalized. No deaths and no cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome have been reported.
In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Sixty-three (84%) of 75 people interviewed reported eating ground beef. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey of healthy people. Ill people bought or ate ground beef from several different grocery stores and restaurants. Many ill people bought large trays or chubs of ground beef from grocery stores and used the meat to make dishes like spaghetti sauce and sloppy joe.
The CDC reported this evening, a multistate investigation which began on April 2, 2019, when PulseNet identified the outbreak. As of April 12, 2019, 93 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from nine states – Alabama 1, Illinois 5, Indiana 18, Kentucky 16, Michigan 19, Minnesota 3, Missouri 3, Ohio 27, Wisconsin 1.
Epidemiologic and traceback evidence indicate that pre-cut melon supplied by Caito Foods of Indianapolis, Indiana is the likely source of this multistate outbreak.
In 2018, 77 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella were reported from nine states linked to Caito Foods.