The Salmonella jalapeño outbreak has ended with 488 people sick in 34 states with 65 hospitalized, according to the CDC. That is an increase of two more states, 57 more patients, and eight more hospitalizations since the last update. There were many recalls of jalapeño peppers and products made with them. The new states are Hawaii and Iowa.
The case count by state is: Alabama (7), Arkansas (1), California (2), Colorado (132), Florida (1), Georgia (43), Hawaii (1), Illinois (35), Indiana (6), Iowa (1), Kansas (14), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (1), Michigan (5), Minnesota (133), Missouri (9), Montana (8), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (6), North Carolina (6), North Dakota (2), Nebraska (6), Ohio (4), Oklahoma (9), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (8), Tennessee (9), Texas (5), Utah (1), Virginia (3), Washington (1), West Virginia (2), Wisconsin (12), and Wyoming (9). Illness onset dates range from June 16, 2026 to August 26, 2026. The patient age range is from less than 1 to 85 years. Sixty-five people have been hospitalized because they are so sick.
Patients were interviewed about what they ate before they got sick. Of the 308 people interviewed, 281, or 91%, reported eating at a Mexican-style restaurant, including Chipotle Mexican Grill and QDOBA. Meal dates ranged from June 14, 2026 to July 29, 2026.
Many sick people were part of illness clusters, which is defined as two or more people who do not live together who reported eating at the same restaurant location, attending a common event, or shopping at the same grocery store. A total of 36 illness clusters were identified at 31 Chipotle restaurants in seven states, and at five QDOBA locations in two states. Commonly reported ingredient items included jalapeño peppers, red onion, cilantro, and avocado.
Whole genome sequencing showed that the DNA from bacteria taken from patient isolates were closely related genetically, which means that people in this outbreak likely got sick from eating the same food. A traceback investigation, based on where patients reported eating during the timeframe of interest found a common grower in Sinaloa, Mexico. They supplied the peppers to Coast Citrus Distributors and were identified as the likely source in this outbreak.
Many of the recalled items have a long shelf life. Please check to make sure you do not have any of the recalled items in your home. If you do, discard them or take them back to the place of purchase for a refund. If you did eat any of these items recently, monitor your health for the symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning for the next week. If you do get sick, see your doctor.
