CDC's Tauxe Says Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak Investigation Now Looking Beyond Tomatoes
The fact the number of confirmed cases of Salmonella Saintpaul continued to rise on Monday was not the big worry for the Centers for Disease Conrol and Prevention (CDC).It was the fact that the date that people continued to fall ill continues to move forward, now the latest onset date for the illness is June 20th.
That means that in the month sine the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took over the investigation into the outbreak that began in New Mexico and Texas; not much has been accomplished. People were warned not to eat certain tomatoes thought to be associated with the outbreak. No tomato field has yet to be named as the source of the outbreak.
And people are still getting sick.
So after last Friday's press conference where FDA and CDC officials acknowledged that the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak might be due to something other than tomatoes, something had to happen today.
Robert Tauxe, CDC's deputy director for food-borne diseases, told USA Today that "we're broadening the investigation to be sure it encompasses food items that are commonly consumed with tomatoes." (Tauxe is pictured above)
Indeed there is evidence that CDC has been pulling FDA off the single focus on tomatoes for several days. And after Friday's CDC/FDA press conference, USA Today reports:
Over the weekend, the tide of opinion among epidemiologists, produce companies and food safety officials also began to turn in that direction.
Tomatoes couldn't have caused an outbreak that has stretched from early April to late June, says Jim Prevor, editor of Produce Business magazine. "There's not a field in the world" that produces that long, he says.
If not tomatoes, what else? "Something that people find difficult to remember but which is always served with tomatoes," says Tauxe.
That would put salsa, jalapeño peppers, green onions and cilantro at the top of the list of potential culprits, says Doug Powell, director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS.For the rest of the USA Today story, go here.
In case anyone is concerned that the tomato industry or the larger produce industry does not have a voice in this ongoing Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak, let us introduce you to Jim Prevor's Perishable Pundit.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said Thursday he is "99.99 percent" sure that a national salmonella outbreak was not caused by Florida-grown tomatoes, but that more definitive identification of produce origin would help investigators track down where the infection came from.
Sometimes we think about things in terms of what might make good fiction. 

Officials are still investigating what was behind the local outbreak, but they said it wasn't from people eating tainted tomatoes at the diner, which is owned by Lois O'Dear.
The FDA is now working to narrow the investigation. As part of this, the agency is sending teams of multi-disciplinary experts to both Mexico and Florida this weekend to conduct joint inspections of the farms and other critical points on the supply chain where the tomatoes may have become contaminated.
"Obviously the critical question is, where did these specific tomatoes come from? And we're not quite there yet. At this point today, we don't know where they came from," said David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for foods.
“We understand that the FDA has a big responsibility, but it is necessary for them to open the lines of communication with the public as well as the states,” said Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, president of the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture (SASDA), during SASDA’s annual conference in Lexington, Ky. “The FDA needs to work with the states to pinpoint the source of the outbreak and eradicate it without unnecessarily harming producers whose products are not affected by the outbreak.”
The Gallup, New Mexico Independent Sunday (6/8/08) is reporting that Mexico is the likely source of the tainted tomatoes responsible now for making people in 16 states sick with Salmonella Saintpaul.
Raul Rivera will be buried Saturday (6/7/08) in Houston. His family is telling Houston television stations tonight that Mr. Rivera is the first death in the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.
Frank Borden, manager of the Texas Department of State Health Services' food and drug inspections branch, said he has concentrated his agents in Houston, where they are scrutinizing invoices and other documents in hope of finding a source for the contaminated fruit.
salmonellosis outbreak appears to be linked to consumption of certain types of raw red tomatoes and products containing raw red tomatoes. The bacteria causing the illnesses are Salmonella serotype Saintpaul, an uncommon type of Salmonella.