CDC Counts 76 in Alfalfa Sprout Salmonella Outbreak; Joint FDA-USDA E. coli Probe Rises to 38 Cases
ATLANTA, Oct. 1 — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now counts 76 illnesses in an alfalfa sprout Salmonella outbreak, while the Food and Drug Administration's page for the same outbreak still listed 55, according to a LexBlog roundup of federal postings. A joint FDA-USDA E. coli investigation rose from 25 to 38 sick with no food named, and a new Listeria file opened at 11 cases, also with no food identified.
Sprouts are a recognized high-risk vehicle for foodborne pathogens: seeds are germinated in warm, humid conditions in which bacteria on or inside the seed can multiply rapidly. In past investigations, testing of seed lots and traceback through sprouting facilities have been the decisive steps in identifying the source.
Salmonella symptoms usually appear six hours to six days after eating contaminated food and include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps lasting four to seven days. Infants, older adults and people with weakened immunity should seek care promptly for dehydration or persistent high fever. The CDC advises consumers to watch for recall notices and to check the source lot before eating raw sprouts.
The pattern fits this week's federal foodborne-illness postings as a whole: closed outbreaks ended without a contamination route, while open ones carry no named food. Officials say foods are named only after epidemiological evidence passes a threshold, to avoid implicating unrelated products; in the meantime, consumers are advised to keep receipts and packaging so lots can be checked the moment a recall posts.
Source: LexBlog weekend wrap-up, Oct. 3, summarizing CDC and FDA postings through Oct. 1.
Photo: To Your Health Sprouted Flour — cheeseslave / CC BY 2.0 (via Openverse)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：苜蓿芽特写。摄影：Buelldm，CC BY-SA 3.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
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