As the number of U.S. states affected by salmonella food
poisoning is on the rise reaching 16 by Saturday, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration is warning once again on the risk people expose by continuing to
consume uncooked tomatoes.
The FDA officials said in a statement posted on their Web
site on June 7 that the number of people infected with Salmonella has reached
145 since mid-April. Consumers are urged to avoid raw red plum, red Roma or
round red tomatoes, as they are believed to be the source of infection. Where exactly
this source is located is a thing the FDA is working on together with health
experts from the U.S. Centers from Disease Control and Prevention, food
industry groups and others.
“We’re trying to get an answer as quickly as possible as to
where these tomatoes came from,” David Acheson, director of the FDA’s Food
Safety and Security Staff was quoted as saying by the USA Today.
Meanwhile, people may continue to consume cherry tomatoes,
grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and tomatoes grown
at home, the FDA statement said.
The FDA further added that 23 people infected with
Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon type of Salmonella, need hospitalization, but
no deaths have been reported so far. The states affected by the outbreak were Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
New Mexico and Texas
are the two U.S.
states hit the most by Salmonella.
Salmonellosis can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting
and abdominal pain starting 12 to 72 hours after infection, the FDA warned. The
disease can be extremely dangerous for young children, frail or elderly people
and those whose immune system is weakened. People usually choose to let the
disease heal by itself, but in some cases treatment with antibiotics is needed
to prevent the infection spreading from the intestines to the bloodstream, a
condition that could turn fatal.
Anyone facing any of the symptoms of salmonellosis should immediately
contact a healthcare provider, health officials said.
