Posted on 01/25/2009 11:50:34 AM PST by Pontiac
Ohio has taken the lead in race to have the most cases of salmonella. As of 9PM EDT, Wednesday, January 22, 2009, 491 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 43 states. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1),
Arizona (10),
Arkansas (4),
California (62),
Colorado (12),
Connecticut (9),
Georgia (6),
Hawaii (3),
Idaho (11),
Illinois (6),
Indiana (4),
Iowa (2),
Kansas (2),
Kentucky (3),
Maine (4),
Maryland (8),
Massachusetts (42),
Michigan (25),
Minnesota (35),
Missouri (9),
Mississippi (3),
Nebraska (1),
New Hampshire (11),
New Jersey (19),
New York (18),
Nevada (5),
North Carolina (6),
North Dakota (10),
Ohio (67),
Oklahoma (2),
Oregon (7),
Pennsylvania (14),
Rhode Island (4),
South Dakota (2),
Tennessee (9),
Texas (6),
Utah (5),
Vermont (4),
Virginia (20),
Washington (13),
West Virginia (2),
Wisconsin (3),
and Wyoming (2).
Additionally, one ill person was reported from Canada.
Among the persons with confirmed, reported dates available, illnesses began between September 14, 2008 and January 8, 2009. Patients range in age from <1 to 98 years; 48% are female. Among persons with available information, 22% reported being hospitalized. Infection may have contributed to seven deaths.
The outbreak can be visually described with a chart showing the number of persons who became ill each day. This chart is called an epidemic curve or EPI Curve The epi curve and information about interpreting it may be found here. It shows that most illnesses began after October 1, 2008. Illnesses that occurred after December 22, 2008 may not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks.
This list of cases by Ohio county is relatively new on the ODH website. I looked for it a few weeks ago and could not find a list anywhere.
Ping the Ohio list please.
Peanuts are dangerous Mmmkay...
Thats why we banned em on airlines and in schools Mmmkay..
How in the hell do you get salmonella from peanuts?
The school and airline bans were based on peanut allergies. This problem is clearly contamination with infected material. It's a different problem.
Yuck... That aint gonna sit well L0L
Maybe we can sell them to the Arabs?
You don't, generally. Peanuts used to make peanut butter or paste or other types of peanut products are roasted to around 350 degrees for a period of time that kills all bacteria, including salmonella.
The problem here is that the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Blakely, GA, wasn't being run with the proper controls in place to avoid contamination further down the line in the process. My understanding is that the actual infestation was found by the FDA/CDC to have been in a filler head at the end of the production line, indicating that poor sanitation controls were in place. Something caused the contamination (perhaps particles of bird droppings got on something that made it onto the equipment) and this particular plant was cutting corners when it shouldn't have been.
Their lax sanitation practices have killed several people and sickened hundreds, and is costing the industry millions of dollars in the short term, and perhaps tens or hundreds of millions in the long term by frightening the general public about peanuts.
This also happened back in 2006, I believe; the culprit turned out to be a leaky roof, allowing bird droppings to filter down to the ceiling panels, which eventually leaked onto the production equipment, allowing salmonella into the product. In neither case (2006 or this outbreak) did peanuts have anything to do with the problem, it could as easily have been in a butter factory or a cookie dough manufacturer or an ice cream plant. Unfortunately, peanuts are getting the black eye when there's really no reason they should.
It's one damned factory run by a family that has had a history of less-than-stellar corporate practices, and the rest of us are suffering because of it. I hope someone ends up in jail over this.
In China, they gave the death penalty to some people willfully involved in the melamine scandal. I'm not suggesting the same should take place here, but someone has to pay.
Scary stuff, and a strong argument for food irradiation.
Somebody dropped there pet snake in the vat?
uNGHH.. Peanut vipers..
Another excellent idea that has been essentially killed by lazy leftist news reporters that would rather publish a anti-nuke’s press release than do the work required by true investigative reporting.
This is the first I have looked into the matter.
My initial reaction was “how in the hell does peanuts support salmonella?”
I suppose anything can be tainted if you take a dump in it
Have a look a food "safety" standards. There are rules about how many rodent droppings per pound or rodent hairs per pound are permitted. It's not something you want to read before mealtime...unless you need inspiration to eat less.
I understand certain dog treats are also suspect. Now, that’s getting serious. :)
Well, perhaps not exactly how I would have put it, but essentially you're correct.
I've spent a huge chunk of the last week and a half nailing down every aspect of our supply chain at work, covering every possible base to make sure that there isn't even a tenuous connection between one of our products that uses a lot of peanut butter and the PCA plant in Blakely. It's been a huge PIA, but at least we're clean.
Yup, there's one particular brand that used a component produced at the factory in question.
Now, that’s getting serious. :)
Don't mess with Fido!
Hopefully this is a one off occurrence.
It has to be a task to keep critters out of huge stockpiles of grains and such
Here's the FDA page listing all affected products to date: Peanut Butter Recall
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