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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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April
2009
Volume
16
- Number 3 |
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Salmonella Outbreak 2008-2009 By Drew Benziger As far back as Sept 1st 2008 illnesses relating to the consumption of tainted peanut products had been reported, but it wasn’t until November that a potential epidemic outbreak was identified (1). The break came when the Center for Disease Control’s PulseNet staff observed a small, yet highly dispersed twelve-state cluster of Salmonella Typhimurium cultures, all exhibiting a distinct DNA finger print (actually a Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) Pattern (2)). On the 25th of November, nearly 6 weeks after the first illnesses were reported; an initial epidemiologic assessment began and several weeks later an additional assessment identified still another S. Typhimurium cluster that correlated with the original strain and the investigations were combined (3).
With the
epidemiologic assessments in full gear, health
officials began the process of interviewing patients suffering from the
infection in an attempt to ascertain the source. Specifically
through patient interviews, the Minnesota
Department of Health investigators were able to narrow down the source
of the
contaminated food to a common food brand (King Nut creamy peanut
butter) served
at multiple institutions throughout the state. In
January, King Nut peanut butter
contaminated with While King Nut
peanut butter appeared to be at the heart of
the outbreak, ongoing interviews indicated that not everyone ate the
peanut
butter but may have instead consumed peanut butter containing products.
King Nut peanut butter is produced by
the
Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at a single facility in The outbreak strain of S. Typhimurium has been isolated in packages of Austin Toasty peanut butter crackers. In response, Austin and Keebler brand peanut butter crackers, produced after 01 July 2008 and manufactured at a facility known to have received peanut paste from the PCA facility, have been recalled by the Kellogg Company(3). In fact, the 2008
salmonella outbreak has prompted one of
the largest food recalls in the nation’s history (5). As of January 28,
at
least 431 peanut butter containing products have been recalled by 54
companies
that had used ingredients produced by the PCA facility after July 1
2008 (6). In February, the peanut butter
product recall
impacted emergency response efforts in As of March 3,
2009, the number of reported Article Reference
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