Salmonella Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Salmonella Blog

The Cochise County Health Department has the CDC to help investigate the source of the salmonella outbreak in the Sierra Vista area of Arizona.  There have been forty-six cases reported since early Septemeber.  Full story from the Arizona Daily Star

"We have no working theories or leads on where this is coming from," said Karla Jensen, spokeswoman for the Cochise County Health Department.

"We've used all our resources and tested everything, but we've come to a block on this," she said. "So we needed to bring in the top experts to try to find some answers."

A team of four epidemiologists from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Sierra Vista on Friday and began working in the area Tuesday, after the recent storm cleared.

"It is definitely unusual that no source has been found at this point," said Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, deputy state epidemiologist for infectious diseases, who previously worked for the CDC and was with the CDC team in Sierra Vista over the weekend.

"That indicates this is a complicated outbreak," she said. "Cochise County has never seen this many salmonella cases before, and it is quite concerning that it keeps going. It just means we need to find the source of it, so we can put a stop to it."

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WALB News Full Story 

To find the Video Link, click here and go to the bottom of the page.

Valdosta - Faulty equipment at a fast food restaurant was the cause of a salmonella outbreak last fall, according to the Division of Public Health in Lowndes County.

Seventy-two people in Lowndes County were infected with salmonella bacteria between Labor Day Weekend and November 15th, 2006.  43 of those cases were linked to the Arby's Restaurant.

It began in September when eight people checked into South Georgia Medical Center with salmonella poisoning.

"That's more than we usually see in a weekend so that prompted us to start asking questions,"  says Geneine Johnson, District Epidemiologist.

And the cases kept coming in.

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Article by Dana Cole from The Sierra Vista Herald - Full Story

SIERRA VISTA — A team of health professionals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in Sierra Vista to assist with an investigation that has been frustrating state and local health officials.

A salmonella outbreak that started on Sept. 1 has spiraled to 45 cases, with no answer as to the cause or mode of transmission. State and local health officials have been working together for months in an effort to isolate the source of the problem, only to hit a dead end. Dr. Nicholas H. Gaffga, a CDC epidemiologist who is part of the investigative team out of Atlanta, held a press conference at the Sierra Vista county health office Friday to answer questions about the agency’s role in the investigation.

“We have come here to assist the Cochise County Health Department,” Gaffga said.

Typically, outbreak investigations don’t take this long to resolve.

“It is uncommon to go this far into an outbreak without finding a source,” he said.

While there have been a number of leads, it’s been impossible to come up with a commonality that would provide answers health officials are seeking.

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Article from Teresa Jun at KOLD News 13 - Full Story

At least 16 people have been infected in a new wave of salmonella cases in south eastern Arizona.  The latest bout in Sierra Vista follows an outbreak last October that made 30 people sick.  So far, health workers have not found a clear culprit in either outbreak.

Now, epidemiologists with the Centers for Disease Control are getting involved.  The CDC has nation-wide experience with salmonella cases.  Cochise County health workers are hoping to borrow some of that expertise in investigating this outbreak.

Symptoms of salmonella infection include vomiting, bloody diarrhea, cramps, and fever.  It can be especially severe in children and the elderly.  So, authorities want to get to the bottom of this outbreak before more people get sick.

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THE VALDOSTA DAILY TIMES reported that the first of approximately a dozen lawsuits was filed in state court this week against Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. and Arby’s LLC, following a salmonella outbreak in Lowndes County in August.

Also named as defendants in the suit are Beavers Inc., and Birg Inc., which own the franchise, Globe Food Equipment, which supplied the faulty meat slicer which was later discovered to be the source of the bacteria; AFA Service Corporation, the marketing and advertising leader for Arby’s; ARCOP Inc.; and one unknown person, who supplied meat products to the restaurant; Farmer Brown’s Produce Inc., which supplied produce for the restaurant and four other unknown persons.

The suit was filed on behalf of 42-year-old Frances Parks, who was hospitalized on Aug. 28 with salmonella poisoning, which led to a bacterimia infection in the bloodstream, two days after she had eaten at the restaurant.

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Salmonella is one of the most common enteric (intestinal) infections in the United States. Salmonellosis (the disease caused by Salmonella) is the second most common foodborne illness after Campylobacter infection. It is estimated that 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis occur each year in the U.S.; 95% of those cases are foodborne-related. Approximately 220 of each 1000 cases result in hospitalization and eight of every 1000 cases result in death. About 500 to 1,000 or 31% of all food-related deaths are caused by Salmonella infections each year. Salmonellosis is more common in the warmer months of the year.

Salmonella infection occurs when the bacteria are ingested, typically from food derived from infected food-animals, but it can also occur by ingesting the feces of an infected animal or person. Food sources include raw or undercooked eggs/egg products, raw milk or raw milk products, contaminated water, meat and meat products, and poultry. Raw fruits and vegetables contaminated during slicing have been implicated in several foodborne outbreaks.

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Dana Cole of the Sierra Vista Herald Review reports:

A team of health professionals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in Sierra Vista, Arizona to assist with an investigation that has been frustrating state and local health officials.

A salmonella outbreak that started on Sept. 1 has spiraled to 45 cases, with no answer as to the cause or mode of transmission. State and local health officials have been working together for months in an effort to isolate the source of the problem, only to hit a dead end.

During the months that local and state health officials have been researching the outbreak, they have canvassed restaurants, schools, daycare facilities, nursing homes and cafeterias. Water testing also was done.

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In an article titled, "Almond Board pasteurization plan in final comment stage," published today, Cary Blake writes for the Western Farm Press:

After two-years of research and consultation across California’s almond industry, the Almond Board of California’s “action plan” creating a mandatory pasteurization program to eliminate any salmonella bacteria in California almonds is now in the final public comment phase.

The ABC’s voluntarily developed plan would modify the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s grower-initiated almond federal marketing order. Submitted to the USDA, the proposed rule was published in the Dec. 6, 2006 issue of the Federal Register. A 45-day public comment period on the rule ends on Jan. 22. A 60-day public comment period on the information collection associated with the rule ends on Feb. 5.

Hundreds of consumers across the country may have been sickened in early 2004 by salmonella linked to almonds packaged by Paramount Farms in California and sold by Costco warehouses and other stores nationwide.  Marler Clark represented over a dozen people who became ill with Salmonella poisoning after eating the Salmonella-contaminated almonds. 

The company recalled 13 million pounds of its packaged almonds after health officials reported 25 cases of Salmonella poisoning traced to the product. Health officials believe far more people have fallen ill, but that their illnesses were not linked officially to the almonds. Paramount had not pasteurized its raw almonds, but began using a gas pasteurizing process following the outbreak.

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72 cases of Salmonella infection found in Lowndes County

Kelli Hernandez of the Valdosta Daily Times reports:

On Sept. 13, Bob Manning from the Georgia Public Health Laboratory (GPHL) contacted the Notifiable Diseases Epidemiology Section (NDES) of the South Georgia Health District (SGHD) that the lab had received eight Salmonella Montevideo isolates from South Georgia Medical Center between Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, according to a report filed by the Department of Human Resources Division of Public Health.

On average, Lowndes County reports approximately five cases per year of Salmonella Montevideo infection. Due to the drastic increase in cases, an investigation was initiated to determine whether or not the cases represented an outbreak in the area and if a common source could be identified amongst the patients, according to the report.

A questionnaire was developed to evaluate sources of possible exposure including animal contact, water sources, grocery stores, restaurants and specific food, according to the report.

Following the investigation and interviewing patients infected, 72 cases of Salmonella Montevideo infections with indistinguishable patterns were reported with the onset of gastrointestinal illness between Aug. 21 and Nov. 15, and investigators were able to determine the outbreak strain, according to the report.

Of the 72 cases, 19 patients were hospitalized and no deaths were reported, according to the report.

Following interviews of 52 of the 72 patients, the investigation revealed that a common fast food restaurant in Valdosta was the source of the outbreak strain. Of those interviewed, 82 percent reported that they had most likely eaten at the restaurant in the seven days before symptoms began, and the risk of being infected rose 1.5 times for those who had eaten at the restaurant.

On Oct. 6, Tad Williams, Environmental Health director for the South Georgia Health District, was notified by investigators that the fast food restaurant Arby’s was considered a possible source for the outbreak. Leslie Golden, Lowndes County Environmental Health specialist, inspected the restaurant and found no major violations as investigators continued interviews with patients, according to the report.

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The Kane County Health Department reported six new salmonella cases last month and is continuing an aggressive, ongoing investigation to track the illness, officials said.

"The health department is asking people displaying the symptoms, which include headaches, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting, rumblings in the bowels, chills, fever, nausea and dehydration, to see their doctors," said Claire Dobbins, the department's director of preparedness and communicable disease control. "An increase in case reports will assist the health department in locating the cause of infection."

Salmonellosis often is mistaken for the stomach flu, since symptoms mimics the flu, officials said. The systems last from 24 hours to 12 days and appear six to 72 hours after ingestion. Those most susceptible include children younger than 1 year, people who have had ulcer surgery or who take antacids, and those whose immune systems have been weakened by other ailments.

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1.  CDC - Disease Listing, Salmonellosis, General Information.  General information on the diagnosis, treatment, consequences, and prevention of infection with the Salmonella bacteria.
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salmonellosis_g.htm

2.  salmonella.org - Salmonella information and resources for researchers, the press, and the public. Data from Salmonella genome projects.
www.salmonella.org

3.  FDA/CFSAN Bad Bug Book - Salmonella spp.
Features organism information, associated foods, symptoms, prevention, and treatment.
www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap1.html

4.  Wikipedia - Salmonella is a Gram-negative bacterium.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmonella

5.  About-Salmonella - Salmonella: Symptoms, Risks, Outbreaks and Resources.  About Salmonella offers information, resources and news about outbreaks, research, and legal cases.
www.about-salmonella.com

6.  NIH - Directory of links to information and news about the disease.
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/salmonellainfections.html

7.  FSIS - Salmonella
www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/salmonella_questions_&_answers/index.asp

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