Health Law

57 Illinois residents sickened in Salmonella sprouts outbreak

By Drew Falkenstein

Salmonella contaminated sprouts on sandwiches served by Jimmy John's restaurants in 14 Illinois counties have sickened 57 Illinois residents, according to the Illinois Department of Health's update moments ago.  The 14 counties with cases in the Salmonella sprouts outbreak are Adams, Bureau, Champaign, Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, Lake, Macon, McHenry, McLean, Peoria, Will and Winnebago. 

No update since December 28 from the CDC on the wider national outbreak believed to be linked to the same sprouts, from Tiny Greens in Urbana Illinois, that caused the Jimmy Johns sub-outbreak in Illinois.  The CDC's December 28 investigation summary states:

From November 1 through December 27, 2010, 94 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:-, whose illnesses began since November 1, have been reported from 16 states and the District of Columbia. The number of ill people identified in each state with the outbreak strain is as follows: California (1), Connecticut (1), District of Columbia (1), Georgia (1), Hawaii (1), Iowa (1), Illinois (51), Indiana (9), Massachusetts (1), Missouri (17), New York (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Dakota (1), Tennessee (1), Texas (1), Virginia (1), and Wisconsin (3). Among 91 persons for whom information is available, illness onset dates range from November 1 to December 14, 2010. Case-patients range in age from 1 to 75 years, with a median age of 28. Sixty-one (or 67%) of patients are female. Among persons with available information, 24% reported being hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Because the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern associated with this particular Salmonella serotype commonly occurs in the United States, some of the cases identified may not be related to this outbreak.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on December 30, 2010 (boomark / email).