Tomatoes likely culprit in latest food scare

In yet another food scare in the U.S. an outbreak of salmonella which has sickened at least 172 people in 18 states and caused 11 people to be hospitalized, has yet to be narrowed down to one particular source.

Health officials are still investigating the outbreak and suspect the bacteria may have spread through some form of produce, possibly tomatoes or lettuce.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says however that it is too early to definitively link the salmonella to any specific food product, food-distribution chain, restaurants or supermarkets.

To date there have been no reported fatalities in the outbreak.

It was only recently that an outbreak of E. coli contamination was traced to fresh, packaged spinach from the Salinas Valley area of California.

That outbreak in October eventually killed three people and sickened more than 200 people in 26 states and one Canadian province.

It was finally traced back to wild pigs which are thought to have carried the bacteria from cattle feces to nearby spinach fields.

This latest scare which the CDC say may have started two weeks ago, was spotted by a national computer lab system that looks for patterns and matches in reports of food-borne illness.

The CDC has combined forces with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to try to trace the origin of the outbreak.

The states involved are Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin.

CDC epidemiologist Dr. Chris Braden says to date the majority of the cases have occurred in adults, and more women than men have been affected.

According to the CDC, salmonella is a germ that causes a bacterial disease called salmonellosis, the symptoms of which include diarrhea, fever and stomach pain, which usually begin up to three days after people become infected.

The CDC says in most cases the symptoms disappear after a week but some people end up being hospitalized because the diarrhea is severe or the infection has affected other organs.

There are as many as 2,500 types of salmonella; in the new outbreak, salmonella typhimurium is the culprit, which is one of the most common.

People get salmonellosis by eating contaminated food, such as chicken, eggs or produce.

Animals can carry salmonella and pass it in their feces and people can get salmonellosis if they don't wash their hands after touching the feces of animals.

Reptiles such as lizards, snakes, and turtles, baby chicks, and ducklings are especially likely to pass salmonellosis to people; but dogs, cats, birds and pet birds, horses, and farm animals can also pass salmonella in their feces.

Consumers are advised to thoroughly wash all produce such as lettuce and tomatoes.