Peanut butter may have infected 399 people in 42 states with salmonella, according to the Minnesota Department of Health on Friday. The agency issued a warning which said that a five pound tub of creamy peanut butter distributed by King Nut had tested positive for salmonella bacteria.

Doug Schultz of the state's Dept. of Health said the peanut butter that tested positive for salmonella was an open container obtained from a senior care facility that had several residents infected with salmonella typhimurium. However, officials do not have the certainty that this particular case is linked to the national salmonella outbreak currently ongoing in the United States.

Martin Kanan, president of King Nut Companies released a statement saying “we are very sorry this happened. We are taking immediate and voluntary action because the health and safety of those who use our products is always our highest priority.”

Salmonella Typhimurium is one of the most common types of the 2,500 known types of this infection. However, the symptoms are usually the same in all types of infection with this bacterium. Patients usually develop diarrhea, fever and experience abdominal cramps 12 to 17 hours after the infection. It usually lasts a week.

The first case was reported September 3, but most cases occurred between October and the end of December. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California has the largest number of cases, 55, followed by Ohio, 53, and Massachusetts, with 39. Minnesota has 30 cases, ten of them being found in nursing homes and most of the other 20 in schools or hospitals.

The current outbreak follows months after salmonella Saintpaul caused more than 1,400 illnesses all over the United States. That outbreak was later traced to jalapeno and Serrano peppers imported from Mexico.

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.
 
Children and the elderly are especially at risk of infection as their immune system is either weakened or not ready to fight such an infection. The infection can be treated with antibiotics although sometimes it may not respond to this kind of treatment according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

In order to avoid infection with salmonella bacterium, health experts warn people to never eat raw or undercooked eggs, poultry or meat. Washing hands is another way to prevent infection. Meanwhile the Minnesota Department of Health is going to work with the Centers for Disease Control and prevention to see if peanut butter is really responsible for the current outbreak.