1,000 are sickened by salmonella

WASHINGTON (MCT) — Salmonella poisoning has sickened more than 1,000 people in 41 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, and federal health officials have now linked jalapeno and serrano peppers to the outbreak.

Illinois has reported 100 salmonella-related illnesses, the second highest total among affected states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 26 state residents have been hospitalized. Texas and New Mexico, where the outbreak was first detected, have 384 and 98 cases respectively.

As of Wednesday, 1,017 cases in all had been confirmed, with 203 hospitalizations.

Officials from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said the outbreak is one of the largest in recent memory, and also one of the most complex.

"It's just been a spectacularly complicated and prolonged outbreak," David Acheson, associate FDA commissioner for foods, said Wednesday. "I don't have any explanation for it." Acheson said that federal investigators are working with state scientists to trace the origins of tomatoes — originally suspected as the source of the outbreak — and peppers to determine where salmonella may have entered the food chain. The bacteria, which can cause stomach aches, vomiting, diarrhea and high fevers, can be introduced to food through a variety of methods, including contact with animals, dirty water or contaminants in food processing and packing equipment.

Interviews with patients revealed that many of them had consumed raw tomatoes or salsa in restaurants. But more recent tests have linked illnesses to the peppers and possibly other salsa ingredients like cilantro, according to Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC's division of foodborne, bacterial and mycotic diseases.

"We are learning that jalapeno peppers caused some of the illnesses in the outbreak," Tauxe said. "It is not clear that they explain all illnesses."

Acheson said Wednesday that the FDA is not warning consumers against eating jalapeno and serrano peppers, but that a warning could come as the investigation continues. Tauxe said that the concern about peppers does not include salsa in jars that consumers purchase in stores.

The Illinois cases form clusters of illnesses related to eight restaurants where peppers and cilantro were consumed in foods such as salsa.

Connie Austin, an epidemiologist with the division of infectious diseases at the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that those who have fallen ill in Illinois ate salsa or guacamole.