Salmonella contamination of turkeys is widespread, unidentified

Thanksgiving is in less than a week and federal health officials are still trying to identify the source of an outbreak of Salmonella disease related to raw turkey products that are being harvested. spread to 35 states and sickened 164 people.

The epidemic, which began a year ago, sent 63 people to the hospital. A person in California has passed away. The salmonella strain has been found in raw pet food in Minnesota, raw turkey products collected from private individuals and live turkeys from several states, indicating that the bacterium is prevalent in the industry.

According to officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no common supplier has been identified. Consumer groups therefore ask for the names of brands, slaughterhouses and processing facilities where the epidemic strain was found in samples.

"When you are about to spend an important vacation and you know that consumers are likely to consume the foods in question, we believe that the agency has an obligation to provide consumers with all the information they have said Laura MacCleery, director of policy at the Center for Science in the public interest.

Health officials said the survey was complex because the strain had been identified in a wide range of products. The investigators interviewed sick people to find their origin. In the absence of a source or supplier of the product or products that make people sick, the best advice for consumers is to properly handle raw turkey – including washing hands, Cutting boards and other utensils after touching – and cook thoroughly to prevent disease.

Salmonella is responsible for more than a million diseases each year and food is the main source. Symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever. Symptoms usually begin within 12 to 96 hours of exposure, but they can manifest one or two weeks after a person's exposure to the bacteria. Most people infected with the bacteria recover without treatment within a week, but severe cases may require hospitalization for invasive infections, such as meningitis and bloodstream infections.

Antibiotics can be used to treat more serious infections. According to the CDC, during the current outbreak, samples of the bacterium showed varying levels of antibiotic resistance. But most of the commonly used antibiotics need to be effective and the CDC clinicians' advice is the same for this outbreak. Health care providers should prescribe patient-specific tests to ensure that they are treated with the appropriate antibiotic.

In recent days, consumer groups have asked the USDA to identify turkey brands related to the outbreak and to reveal the names of the companies that operate the 22 slaughterhouses and the seven treatment facilities where the bacterial strain was discovered. The strain in these samples is closely related to the strain found in sick people, providing more evidence that people were sick of preparing raw turkey products, according to the CDC.

In a letter sent Thursday to Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, a coalition of consumer groups called the USDA to publish this information.

"Providing this information would allow some consumers to avoid turkey products that could be contaminated with dangerous salmonella," said the Safe Food Coalition, which brings together several consumer groups, including Consumer Reports and Consumer Federation of America. .

But the USDA's Food Inspection and Safety Service, which monitors the outbreak, said in a statement that it would be "totally irresponsible and reckless" to identify brands or names of companies that operate facilities "when a link between an institution's disease has not been made."

The national federation of Turkey has stated that its producers apply "comprehensive pathogen control programs" from the hatchery to the treatment, designed to reduce bacteria. In treatment plants, the focus is on areas where contamination is most likely to occur. Producers use food grade rinsing products that eliminate or reduce the growth of bacteria, organic sprays to clean turkeys and inhibit bacteria, and USDA inspectors are "permanently present" in all facilities to monitor food safety, said the industry group.