An outbreak of salmonella poisoning in the U.S. appears to have health authorities running around in ever decreasing circles.
The outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul which has been linked to tomatoes, has made 851 sick since April, and the strain has infected people in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
The infections have been linked to some raw red plum, red Roma, round red tomatoes, and products containing these raw tomatoes and so far the investigations have been unable to pin down the exact source of the contamination.
Investigations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with public health officials and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have traced the source of some of the outbreaks to restaurants using the tomatoes but how they came to be contaminated remains a mystery.
The clusters of illnesses identified in Texas and other states among persons who ate at restaurants have led the authorities to broaden the investigation to include food items that are commonly consumed with tomatoes.
The illnesses began between April 10 and June 20, 2008, including 173 who became ill on June 1 or later - it takes an average of 2-3 weeks before the illness can be confirmed.
Victims' ages range from 1 to 99 years and 49% are female; while no deaths have been officially attributed to the outbreak, at least 105 people have been hospitalized and it is suspected that many more were affected.
During the same period in 2007 only 3 persons in the U.S. were infected with this strain of Salmonella Saintpaul.