The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and Public Health of Seattle & King County (SKC), with CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), are investigating an outbreak of Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- infections linked to pork.

Public health investigators are using the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that may be part of this outbreak. PulseNet, the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories, is coordinated by CDC. DNA “fingerprinting” is performed on Salmonella bacteria isolated from ill people by using a technique called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE. PulseNet manages a national database of these DNA fingerprints to identify possible outbreaks. Five DNA fingerprints (outbreak strains) are included in this outbreak investigation. The five strains are rare in Washington.

A total of 134 ill people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- have been reported from Washington.

Among people for whom information is available, illnesses started on dates ranging from April 25, 2015 to August 1, 2015. Ill people range in age from 1 year to 90, with a median age of 35. Forty-six percent of ill people are female. Among 111 ill people with available information, 16 (14%) report being hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.