Map Showing Recent Outbreak of Salmonella at Mexican Restaurant Chain
The Salmonella outbreak announced yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the latest in a string of recent foodborne illness outbreaks linked to Mexican-style food.
The CDC has not released the name of the Mexican-style restaurant chain where at least 68 diners in 10 states were stricken with an infection caused by Salmonella Enteritidis after having a meal. Texas and Oklahoma were particularly hard hit with 43 and 16 confirmed cases respectively. In Kansas, two cases were confirmed and Iowa Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, and Tennessee each had one confirmed case.
The CDC declared the outbreak, which began in October, over in its first and only published report released yesterday.
Investigators believe the contamination occurred before the product reached the restaurant locations. Although they were unable to identify the specific food source, investigators believe the epidemic curve is consistent with a produce-related outbreak. The restaurant’s meat handling and cooking practices make it unlikely that ground beef was the source, according to the CDC.
If ingested, Salmonella bacteria can cause an infection called salmonellosis. Roughly 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported annually in the United States, but because milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be thirty times that number, according to the CDC.
Restaurants are the most commonly identified setting for foodborne outbreaks, according to the CDC. Recent outbreaks associated with Mexican-style restaurants include:
A Salmonella outbreak linked to Don Julio Mexican restaurant in Corinth, Miss. that that sickened 59 patrons and staff in December 2011.
A Salmonella outbreak linked to a Mexican restaurant in Grandville, Mich. that sickened at least one patron in September 2011.
Salmonella outbreaks of two different strains linked to the same a Mexican-style fast food chain that sickened at least 155 people in 18 states in August 2010.
