Foster Farms chicken linked to salmonella outbreak that has infected 94 in Oregon and Washington
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday they are collaborating with public health officials in many states and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) to investigate a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections.
The multistate outbreak has sickened at least 124 people in a dozen states since June 2012. 75 percent of the ill people have been reported from Washington and Oregon with 56 and 38 cases, respectively.
Thirty-one people required hospitalization for their illness. No deaths have been reported.
Health officials in Oregon and Washington have identified Foster Farms brand chicken as the most likely source of the infections in their states. In a Oregon Health Authority press release yesterday, they are reporting 43 cases of Salmonella Heidelberg linked to the suspected chicken brand.
According to the CDC, they are not releasing the names of the other states until it is determined how these illnesses are linked to this outbreak.
Both state health departments have issued advisories on the proper handling and cooking of poultry in light of the outbreak announcement.
Salmonella is an organism, which 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.
For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
Looking for a job in health care? Check here to see what’s available
[…] total is up from 124 cases in the middle of […]