The Salmonella Montevideo outbreak linked to Jimmy John’s raw sprouts served on sandwiches at those restaurants is over, after sickening ten people in three states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Epidemiologic evidence found that raw sprouts were the likely source of this outbreak.
The case count by state is: Illinois (2), Minnesota (2), and Wisconsin (6). No one was hospitalized and no deaths were reported in this outbreak.
Ill persons reported eating raw sprouts on sandwiches that were served on Jimmy John’s sandwiches purchased in Illinois and Wisconsin. One ill person ate raw sprouts that were purchased from a grocery store in Minnesota. Illness onset dates ranged from December 20, 2017 to January 28, 2018. The patient age range is from 26 to 56, with a median age of 42. All of the patients are female.
The outbreak notice states that any contaminated sprouts that made people sick in this outbreak would now be older than their recommended shelf life. The FDA, the CDC, and state and local authorities did not find the source of the contamination through traceback investigations.
In interviews, ill persons answered questions about the foods they ate the week before they got sick. Eight of ten people interviewed, or 80%, said they ate a multiple Jimmy John’s restaurant locations in Illinois and Wisconsin. This is a significantly higher proportion than results from a survey of healthy people, in which only 3% ate sprouts on a sandwich the week before they were interviewed. DNA fingerprinting was performed on Salmonella bacteria from isolates taken from ill people. The outbreak strain was identified through these tests.
Raw and lightly cooked sprouts are a known source of foodborne illness. And outbreaks linked to raw sprouts served on Jimmy John’s sandwiches have a lengthy history.
Public health officials recommend that everyone, particularly those in high risk groups such as the very young, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic illnesses, avoid eating raw sprouts. This infection can have serious long term health consequences even after a patient recovers, including reactive arthritis, endocarditis, high blood pressure, and irritable bowel syndrome.
