A Salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey products has sickened 164 people in 35 states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sixty-three people needed hospitalization, one person from California has died.
Troubling Aspects of this Outbreak
First, is the sheer number of places where health officials have found the outbreak strain. They have identified it in samples from raw turkey pet food in Minnesota, in samples from live turkeys in several states, in raw turkey products collected from ill people’s homes, in product samples from 22 different slaughterhouses and in samples from seven different processing facilities. In fact, its omnipresence during this investigation has prompted the CDC to say that it might be an industry-wide problem. (The agency came to a similar conclusion about an ongoing Salmonella outbreak linked to raw chicken products.)
Second, because the Salmonella Reading outbreak strain is so widespread, health officials can’t identify a single, common supplier of the products linked to this outbreak. This makes it challenging to adequately inform consumers about the danger. During interviews with health officials, case-patients identified several brands and stores.
Third, not all of the people sickened in this outbreak ate the contaminated turkey. Six of them just handled it. Three of them worked at a turkey-processing facility or lived with someone who did. Three of them fed their pets raw turkey pet food. Previous Salmonella outbreaks linked to poultry products have sickened consumers who followed food safety measures. So, it is possible for a product to be contaminated with so much Salmonella that it can’t be handled safely. And in this outbreak, evidence indicates that people got sick from preparing raw turkey products, according to the CDC.
Turkey Salmonella Outbreak
Case-patients in this outbreak have reported onset-of-illness dates ranging from November 20, 2017, to October 20, 2018. The CDC announced the outbreak on July 19, 2018. Since then, the outbreak has grown to include 74 more people from 26 states. Although the outbreak now includes 35 states, about half of the illnesses occurred in just seven of them: Minnesota (17), Illinois (16), California (13), New York (12), Texas (11) and New Jersey and Virginia with eight cases each. Other states reporting illnesses linked to this outbreak are: Florida and North Carolina with seven cases each. Colorado, Michigan and Wisconsin with six cases each. Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, and Massachusetts with three cases each. And Georgia, North Dakota and Oregon with two cases each. The following states each reported one illness: Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee.
Case-patients range in age from less than one year to 91 years old. Two children in Minnesota developed infections after handling raw pet food. One of them developed osteomyelitis, a serious and painful bone infection.
Experienced Salmonella Lawyers
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