Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to Foster Farms chicken is over: CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Wednesday that the multistate Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to Foster Farms brand chicken appears to be over.
According to the final update, a total of 134 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg were reported from 13 states.
Thirty-three people were reported requiring hospitalization for their illness.
Seventy-two percent of the cases were reported from two states–Oregon (40) and Washington (57).
The total breakdown by state is as follows: Alabama (1), Alaska (13), California (11), Hawaii (1), Idaho (2), Massachusetts (1), Montana (2), New York (1), Oregon (40), Utah (3), Virginia (1), Washington (57), and West Virginia (1).
The collaborative investigative efforts of local, state, and federal public health and regulatory agencies indicated that Foster Farms brand chicken was the most likely source of this outbreak.
The USDA-FSIS sent an incident investigation team to one Foster Farms slaughter establishment. The results of the investigation are being finalized.
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.
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