A bean sprout Salmonella outbreak 
has sickened 87 people in 11 states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty seven percent of those sickened have been hospitalized.
The outbreak has been linked to Wonton Foods Inc. of Brooklyn, which suspended production briefly to clean its facility and resumed production on November 29. Health officials says it’s likely that the contaminated sprouts are no longer in circulation as the maximum shelf life of mung bean sprouts is 12 days.
Since the CDC’s last update on November 25, 19 additional cases have been reported and the outbreak has spread to one new state, Virginia. Connecticut had three new cases, Massachusetts had four new cases, New York had nine news cases, Ohio had two new cases and Virginia had one.
By state, the total case counts are as follows: Connecticut (7), Maine (3), Massachusetts (35), Montana (1), New Hampshire (4), New York (14), Ohio (3), Pennsylvania (10), Rhode Island (6), Vermont (3), Virginia (1).
Salmonella poisoning symptoms include fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare cases, the infection can travel to the bloodstream producing more severe illnesses.
Case patients, who range in age from younger than 1 year to 83 year old, reported onset of illness from September 30, 2014 to November 14, 2014. Fifty-nine percent of case patients are female. The median age is 32.
Sprouts are considered a high risk food and those most at risk for food poisoning including children, seniors, pregnant women, and others with weakened immune systems should not eat them. Others who are interested in eating sprouts should thoroughly cook them to reduce the risk of illness.
