Foster Farms salmonella outbreak up by 43 case since March
The Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to Foster Farms chicken has increased by 43 cases since Mar. 3, bringing the total cases to 524, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today.
The 524 cases infected with seven outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg have been reported from 25 states and Puerto Rico since 13 months ago. Three out of four cases have been reported from California.
The 43 new ill persons have been reported from 5 states: Arizona (2), California (34), Michigan (1), Oregon (3), Texas (2), and Washington (1).
The outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg are resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics to include ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline. Although these antibiotics are not typically used to treat Salmonella bloodstream infections or other severe Salmonella infections, the CDC notes, antibiotic resistance can be associated with a higher risk of hospitalization in infected individuals.
Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
[…] a follow up to an April report, the multistate Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak that began some 14 months ago, has grown by another […]