The FDA is weighing in on the multistate Salmonella Montevideo outbreak linked to raw clover sprouts sold at Jimmy John’s restaurants in Illinois and Wisconsin. The FDA is advising consumers not to eat sprouts at those restaurants in that state because they may be contaminated with the pathogenic bacteria. We now know that the product being focused on is clover sprouts.
Jimmy John’s did announce on January 19, 2018, that all of its retail locations temporarily stopped serving sprouts. Epidemiologic evidence indicates that the sprouts served at Jimmy John’s restaurants are the likely source of the outbreak. The most recent illness began on January 3, 2018.
The FDA is working with partners in Illinois and Wisconsin, and the CDC, to conduct traceback on the clover sprouts. They want to know the source of the pathogen, where the product was distributed, and to learn more about the potential route of contamination.
As of January 23, 2018, eight people are infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Montevideo. Two are in Illinois, one is in Minnesota, and five are in Wisconsin. Seven of those eight people ate meals at Jimmy John’s restaurants in Wisconsin and Illinois the week before they got sick, and all said they ate raw sprouts on the sandwiches they ordered there. All of the clinical isolates have the same DNA fingerprint.
The symptoms of a Salmonella infection include diarrhea that may be bloody, fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting. Most people get sick within 12 to 72 hours after being exposed to this bacteria. Most people recover within a few days to a week. And most people recover without treatment.
Because most people do not go to a doctor when they contract this infection, Salmonella illnesses are very underreported. Public health officials use a multiplier to estimate the size of these outbreaks. For Salmonella, that number is 29. There may be hundreds of people who are actually sick in this outbreak.
If you or someone you know has been sick after eating at a Jimmy John’s restaurant in Wisconsin or Illinois, see a doctor. The long term consequences of a Salmonella infection can be serious, including reactive arthritis, high blood pressure, and irritable bowel syndrome
The Minnesota law firm of Pritzker Hageman helps people throughout the United States who have been sickened by contaminated food such as contaminated raw sprouts protect their legal rights, and get justice and compensation. Our lawyers represent patients and the families of those sickened with bacterial infections in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against restaurants, retailers, food producers, food processors, distributors, schools, and others. Attorney Fred Pritzker recently won $7.5 million for young client whose kidneys failed because of hemolytic uremic syndrome after an E. coli infection. Class action lawsuits may not be appropriate for outbreak patients because the cases are very unique.
