Salmonella enteritidis
18 August 2010
Reports of Salmonella illnesses in California, Colorado, and Nevada emerged today in the wake of an Iowa company's nationwide egg recall.
Yesterday the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a recall notice that said Wright County Egg, based in Galt, Iowa, was recalling certain Julian dates of shell eggs after state and federal health officials found the products might be linked to a fourfold surge in Salmonella Enteritidis(SE) infections. About 200 SE infections were identified in June and July.
One of the first clues that contaminated eggs might explain the national spike in SE infections was restaurant-linked illness clusters detected by health officials in Colorado, California, and Minnesota.
Today the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health warned the public not to eat the recalled eggs and a fruit pulp product that was recently linked to a Salmonella Typhi outbreak. The department said so far the recalled eggs have been linked to 266 SE infections in California, including 43 in Los Angeles County.
Elsewhere, the Southern Nevada Health District has reported 30 SE cases since January, about four times as many as it usually sees by this time of year.
Wright County Egg farms produces 2.5 million eggs per week from fives sites in Iowa (CIDRAP).