It has been a summer of foodborne illnesses for Americans as now more than 40 people have been sickened by a Salmonella and E. coli outbreak linked to sprouts sold in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The new rash of sickness comes following a salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeno peppers that sickened more than 400 people in various states and another 15,000 people sickened by cases of cyclosporiasis throughout the U.S., much of it linked to iceberg lettuce.
By Friday, Minnesota was reporting 23 cases of the sprout-borne version, and Wisconsin was reporting 18 cases, according to ABC and other news outlets. Of those reported, three have been hospitalized, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
According to statement Thursday by that department:
The illnesses have been linked to eating alfalfa sprouts produced by Everything Sprouts, a Minnesota grower, and sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands to restaurants and grocery stores. Health officials recommend people check for alfalfa sprouts from Calco or Everything Sprouts, not eat them, and throw them away. MDH and MDA are working with health officials from Wisconsin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other states to identify the source and scope of contamination.
Health officials consider the outbreak is unusual because it involves not one but two different types of bacteria, namely the salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
They say the latter, known by the acronym STEC, can result in more digestive, complications than illnesses from other E. coli strains.
“So far we have identified cases with one type of salmonella and three different types of STEC, and some persons had co-infections (infections caused by two different pathogens),” Carlota Medus, a supervisor of the health department’s foodborne diseases unit, told news outlets.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
The outbreak comes amid heightened public concern this summer about foodborne illnesses, following a salmonella outbreak linked to tainted jalapeños that sickened at least 431 people, including more than 118 people in Minnesota. Authorities also have raised concerns about more than 15,000 cases of cyclosporiasis in the U.S. — two-thirds of which have been linked to an outbreak involving tainted iceberg lettuce.
More than 50 cases of cyclosporiasis, known for causing explosive and prolonged diarrhea, have been reported so far this year in Minnesota. But state officials said that total is typical for this time of year and that the cases don’t appear connected to the wider outbreak. Some were related to foods eaten during international travel
The illnesses identified so far in Minnesota occurred between July 8 and Aug. 8, health officials said.
An investigation is continuing, and health officials expect more cases to emerge as word of the outbreak is publicized.
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
