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Tainted Tomato Toll Now 552
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 On Friday, Acheson said the investigation into the outbreak has now zeroed in on "a number of farms" in both Florida and Mexico.
"These farms along with their associated distribution chains are going to be part of an ongoing investigation," he added, noting, "We do not have a specific farm involved in the contamination; we have to look at the whole chain."
Health officials last week had said that the bulk of the tomatoes available at the start of the outbreak in April had come from Mexico and parts of Florida.
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But on Wednesday, Acheson seemed less certain than he has in the past that the exact source would ever be identified. "I have to acknowledge that we may not ultimately know the farm where these came from," he said. "But we're continuing to go flat-out, assuming we are going to get to that point."
Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea in humans. Some 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States each year, although the CDC estimates that because milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be 30 or more times greater. Approximately 600 people die each year after being infected.
More information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the salmonella outbreak.
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Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 6/21/2008
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SOURCES: June 20, 2008, teleconference with David Acheson, M.D., associate commissioner for food protection, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Ian Williams, chief, OutbreakNet Team, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Faye Feldstein, acting director, Office of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency Response, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA; and
Matthew Eckel, director, Americas Staff, Office of International
Programs, FDA
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