The largest produce-related salmonella outbreak in US history continues with authorities no closer to finding the source of the contaminant. To date, infections have been reported in 36 states with the number of cases now at 869, with 107 hospitalizations. “Whatever this produce item is that’s causing illness is probably still out there making people sick,” said Dr. Patricia Griffin, chief of the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at the CDC. While tomatoes are still the leading suspected source of the infections in the two-month-old outbreak, officials will now expand their search to include other produce items. The CDC currently advises avoiding raw red plum, red Roma, round red tomatoes, and products containing these raw tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes with the vine still attached, and home-grown tomatoes are still considered safe for consumption. Full story.
July 2, 2008
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.