Illinoisans Sickened Due To A Multi State Salmonella Outbreak

Of the 29 states affected by a Salmonella outbreak, Illinois has the third-most amount of people finding themselves getting sick.

We've had quite a year in 2021 with warnings and recalls of foods that have been contaminated with E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella, some of them even coming from regionally produced sources. With this current outbreak, there's a difference.

The CDC Is Calling The Source Of The Salmonella Outbreak "Unknown"

Unlike most of the other food safety issues we've seen lately in the Rockford area, where the source of the contaminated materials was quickly identified, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that they're working to identify the source of the current outbreak, but it remains unknown.

CDC:

State and local officials have collected food items from some of the restaurants where sick people ate. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg was found in a sample taken from a takeout condiment cup containing cilantro and lime. The sick person reported that the condiment container also contained onions, but none were left in the cup when it was tested.

The Actual Number Of Infections May Be Higher Than What's Being Reported

The CDC says the outbreak has spread across 29 states, with the most cases reported in Texas (81), followed by Oklahoma (40), Illinois (23) and Virginia (22). Other states who are also dealing with this include Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Connecticut, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Kansas, New Mexico, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, North and South Carolina, Nebraska, Utah, Oregon, Wisconsin, Indiana and Tennessee.

The reason the numbers may be higher than reported is that the CDC believes that many of the people infected go on to recover from their symptoms and don't consult with their doctors to get checked for Salmonella.