County health officials visited Red Hill Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church Wednesday night to find out more about the salmonella outbreak at the church homecoming Sunday. The congregation also heard about food-borne diseases and how to prevent them.

John Rouse, county health director, told the gathering the exact source of the outbreak would probably never be known and his staff emphasized they were not at the church to point the finger of blame.

Officials compiled a list of the food served at the event and interviewed church members individually to find out what they ate. Mr. Rouse said although that might help establish a link between those who had symptoms and specific dishes, it’s unlikely the root of the outbreak will be identified.

"In any food-borne outbreak it is going to be impossible for me to come back to you and say this is the dish that caused the outbreak," he said.

Red Hill preacher Tony Kopanski feels church officials did everything they could to make sure the 150 people who attended the homecoming knew what had happened and about last night’s meeting.