Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak in 18 states linked to Mexican cucumbers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in coordination with state public health departments and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have initiated an investigation of a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul that has sickened at least 73 people in 18 states, according to a CDC outbreak notice April 25.

Public domain image/Gruepig at the English Wikipedia project

The outbreak, which has hospitalized 14 individuals, has been linked to the consumption of imported cucumbers from at least two Mexican farms.

On April 24, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed Daniel Cardenas Izabal and Miracle Greenhouse of Culiacán, Mexico on Import Alert.

Cucumbers from these two firms will be denied admission into the United States unless the suppliers show that they are not contaminated with Salmonella.

The tainted cucumbers were distributed by Tricar Sales, Inc. of Rio Rico, Arizona.

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arizona (9), California (28), Colorado (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (3), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Maryland (1), Minnesota (8), Nevada (1), New Mexic0 (2), North Carolina (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (2), South Dakota (2), Texas (6), Virginia (2), and Wisconsin (2).

The CDC reports the number of illnesses reported has declined substantially since a peak in early March. Currently, there is no evidence that contaminated cucumbers are still on the market. However, due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported, additional ill persons may be identified.

This is not the first time that this strain of salmonella has been implicated in an outbreak in the US. In 2008, a nationwide outbreak of Salmonella SaintPaul was linked to raw produce. That outbreak affected 1500 people in 43 states.

Then in 2009, an outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul affected 235 persons from 14 states. The vehicle for the outbreak in this case was alfalfa sprouts.

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.

Children are especially susceptible because they frequently put their fingers into their mouths and because their immune systems are still developing.

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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