More than 50 inmates at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois were sickened with Salmonella infections, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. News reports state that five cases of Salmonella food poisoning have been confirmed. And at least two inmates were hospitalized because they were so sick.
Local public health officials are conducting an investigation along with the Cook County Department of Facilities Management and the sheriff’s office. The outbreak took place in the jail’s Division XI, which is located at 3015 South California Boulevard in Chicago.
Data and studies show that prisons, just like hospitals and nursing homes, are at high risk for foodborne illness. Crowded conditions in prisons can contribute to outbreaks, since person-to-person spread of bacteria can occur even when the original bacterial source is food. The Cook County Jail houses about 1,400 inmates.
The symptoms of a Salmonella infection include fever, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps, and diarrhea that may be bloody. While most people do recover, without medical treatment, after this infection, there are long term health consequences to this illness. Over time, patients can developed endocarditis, high blood pressure, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Pritzker Hageman, America’s food safety law firm, successfully helps and represents people hurt by adulterated foods in outbreaks throughout the United States. Its experienced lawyers have won hundreds of millions of dollars for foodborne illness patients and their families, including a multimillion dollar verdict for a child sickened by Salmonella bacteria. The firm publishes Food Poisoning Bulletin, a respected Google News source for food safety news and information. Pritzker Hageman lawyers are often interviewed as experts on this topic by major news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. In addition, the firm represents people harmed by pathogenic microorganisms in Legionnaires‘ disease, surgical site infections, and product liability cases.
