Tomatoes-borne Salmonella bacteria appear to infect more people each day spreading all over the United States and creating a national hysteria among Americans.

According to a report released by foodconsumer.org., 124 people became infected with Salmonella bacteria after consuming uncooked tomatoes. The bad news is that the infection spreads in other states than the nine confirmed Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas and New Mexico are the most affected states with 56 cases, respectively 40. They are followed by Arizona with 5 cases, Colorado with 1 case, Illinois with 12 cases, Indiana with 1 case, Kansas with 3 cases, Utah with 1 case, Virginia with 1 case and Wisconsin with 2 Cases.

New cases have been also confirmed in Northern California, the latest place to be hit by salmonella infection. The California Department of Public Health confirmed on Friday one case of salmonella infection linked to raw tomatoes. The women who got infected needed hospitalization, but she is safe now, Contra Costa Health Services representative Kate Fowlie said as quoted by the San Jose Mercury News.

The California Department of Public Health announced Friday it is leading an investigation with the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other agencies to determine if a man from Oregon diagnosed with salmonella infection ate tomatoes in Southern California or elsewhere.

Salmonella infection have also been reported in Oklahoma, Connecticut, Washington, Idaho, raising the number of states affected by salmonella to 16, the CDC reported. The bad news is that the exact source of infection is still under investigation.

To avoid getting infected with salmonella bacteria people were urged to stay away from raw red plum, round or Roma tomatoes, which may be linked to the outbreak.

Salmonellosis (the infection caused by the Salmonella bacteria) is a bacterial infection that lives in the intestinal tracts of human and other animals. The bacterium is usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. It can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail in elderly people and others with weakened immune system.

Symptoms of salmonella include fever, diahrea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should immediately contact a health care provider, health officials said.

Most people recover from salmonella illness without special treatment, but cases of severe diarrhea require medical attention and there’s a risk of infection spreading from the intestines to the bloodstream, a condition that could turn fatal.