For months, federal and state officials have searched for the cause of an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella responsible for one death and 76 illnesses, but they have yet to trace it back to a producer. The closest they've been able to get is that it's linked to eating ground turkey.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an investigation of the outbreak Monday night. The microbe involved is called salmonella Heidelberg. A DNA "fingerprint" of the bacteria shows it is resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics. Because of this, people infected in this outbreak could be at higher risk for hospitalization, and the infection can be harder to treat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service "has not linked these illnesses to a particular brand, product or establishment, and therefore has not issued a recall. We are continuing to investigate this situation," says FSIS' Neil Gaffney.
The illnesses apparently began after March 1, and the most recent victim was reported Monday, the CDC says. Ground turkey is frequently frozen, so a contaminated batch of meat could stay in a production plant, a store or a home freezer for quite awhile.
Those stricken range in age from 1 to 88. Of 58 of those taken ill about whom information is available, 38% have been hospitalized, a relatively high rate for salmonella — the average rate is 22%.
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