Thursday, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informed that a number of 79 people had been sickened by dry pet food up to that moment, many of whom had been young children. Moreover, they announced that the salmonella-contaminated pet food still posed a threat, although the Pennsylvania factory has been closed and all the tainted brands recalled from the market.

CDC revealed that the type of salmonella that had affected the pet food was a rare one, called Salmonella enterica serotype Schwarzengrund, while the main symptom has been reported to be bloody diarrhea. The categories of people who are the most prone to becoming ill if they come in contact with the dry food are young children and the elderly.

So far, no deaths have been registered and also no pets have been reported to have been sickened by the salmonella-contaminated food.

Nevertheless, the CDC has stated that people might still have the tainted brands of pet food in their homes, since the shelf-life of such a product is one year, thus the risk of more persons getting ill is to be taken into account.

The contaminated dry pet food comes from Mars Petcare U.S. and it includes, among others, Special Kitty, Pedigree and Member's Mark. CDC officials have urged people who still have the aforementioned brands in their homes to either cease using them to feed their pets of return the products to the stores.

On October 1, Mars Petcare U.S. announced they would be closing down their Pennsylvania plant on a permanent basis.