Salmonella outbreak affects Arizona

Arizona is one of nine states experiencing a small outbreak of salmonella.

According to the Center for Disease Control and the Arizona Department of Health Services, there have been five confirmed cases of the disease in Arizona since early last month.

CDC officials first noticed the onset of the outbreak when multiple cases of the same genetic type were reported in Texas and New Mexico, ADHS Deputy State Epidemiologist Rebecca Suneshine said.

“Once they identified that there was a bunch of salmonella in Texas and New Mexico that had the same genetic fingerprint, they talked with New Mexico and Texas and investigated and started interviewing people with this disease,” Suneshine said, “and that’s how they found out that many of these people had eaten Roma or red, round tomatoes.”

The tomatoes are believed to have been the cause of the outbreak. A release provided by the ADHS instructs infants, persons prone to infection or those with weak immune systems to avoid eating raw Roma or red, round tomatoes.

Tomatoes sold while still on the vine have been deemed safe, according to interviews with those who were first diagnosed, said Suneshine.

“We don’t have any evidence that the individuals with salmonella have eaten tomatoes on the vine.

They were asked specifically about which tomatoes they ate, on the vine or otherwise,” Suneshine said.

All raw tomatoes should be washed thoroughly under running water, and can be cooked at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 seconds to kill salmonella, the release said.

It is unknown at this time whether the tomatoes have all come from the same supplier, Suneshine said.

The Food and Drug Administration is conducting an investigation to find the common element in the contaminated tomatoes.

The first cases of the outbreak were reported in late April, and the first confirmed Arizona case began feeling the symptoms on May 6.

There are confirmed cases in Maricopa, Pima, Apache and Coconino counties, the release said.

Symptoms of the illness normally include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps, Suneshine said.

Many cases may go unreported, she said.

“It’s pretty safe to say, with all food born outbreaks, that there are definitely people who get the disease and either don’t go to the doctor, or don’t have severe enough symptoms that they even want to seek care,” she said. Even if people do go to a doctor, often times they are not checked for salmonella, which requires a stool sample.

“So a lot of people don’t seek care, and then a lot of people don’t get cultured when they seek care,” she said. “Usually we’re just uncovering—we say “the tip of the iceberg”—but there are usually many more cases out there.”

Other states reporting salmonella outbreaks are: Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Utah, Suneshine said.

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