Published: June 25, 2008 09:32 am         

Hospital reports 15 cases of salmonella poisonings

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

There have been 15 cases of salmonella confirmed at Palo Pinto General Hospital recently, prompting health officials to contact the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Starting about June 9th through the 20th, we’ve had approximately 15 confirmed cases,” said Sue Lamb, PPGH’s education, infection control and disaster prep.

Lamb said she can’t remember seeing this many cases in such a short period of time during her tenure with the hospital.

“We get between two and five cases a year that I report,” she remarked. “Nothing this concentrated.”

The Mineral Wells city health inspector, Donna Robbins, told the Index Tuesday approximately 14 cases appear to have “all eaten in the same food establishment.”

On June 13th, Robbins said an epidemiologist picked up two cases of tomatoes from the restaurant for testing. She didn’t know when the test results would be available.

According to Lamb, the individuals who’ve come to the hospital recently for medical attention have ranged in age from as young as 2 years old to people in their 70s and the victims have been both male and female. They were able to confirm the salmonella diagnosis by sending stool samples to Austin for testing.

“Multiple patients were being treated with diarrhea and vomiting,” she remarked. “A lot are being treated as outpatients and some are admitted.”

The CDC listed symptoms of salmonella infection as “diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection.” Typically diagnosed through a stool sample, “the illness usually lasts four to seven days,” the CDC Web site stated.

Because of the diarrhea, officials expressed dehydration concerns for young children and those with weakened immune systems. According to a DSHS news release, “people with severe diarrhea may need to be hospitalized. People with symptoms should drink plenty of water, get extra rest and visit a doctor as soon as possible.”

“For those with an increased risk of infection, it can be a debilitating illness and can be extremely dangerous,” said DSHS spokeswoman Emily Palmer.

According to the DSHS, as of 5 p.m. Monday, there were 293 cases of salmonella in Texas and 652 across the country. However, officials reported there have not been any fatalities directly attributed to the outbreak.

Palmer said when they investigate a salmonella case, “The first thing we do is identify the strain.”

The process involves a 20-page interview of the victims, asking questions pertaining to where they’d eaten, what they ate and when. Palmer explained they look for commonalities such as was the produce or food from the same place or if people ate the same item.

From that point, she said they perform a “trace back,” following the produce to the field it was harvested from. It’s a process that “does take some time,” she said. “It’s not necessarily the place; it’s the product itself.”

Palmer explained they use a very specific lab test – genetic testing – to determine the particular strain of salmonella.

In a DSHS release earlier this month, the department stated the “consumption of raw tomatoes has been implicated as the likely source of infections.”

Salmonella bacteria live in the intestinal tracts of many animals, according to the CDC. “Salmonella are usually transmitted to humans by eating food contaminated with animal feces. Contaminated foods usually look and smell normal.”

The CDC also noted that contaminated foods are often of animal origin – such as pork, poultry and eggs – fruits and vegetables can also be contaminated.

The DSHS advises consumers to thoroughly wash all tomatoes under running water, cook tomatoes at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 seconds to kill Salmonella and “wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and warm water, especially after going to the restroom, before preparing or serving food and after changing a diaper.”

Palo Pinto County is but one of a number of Texas counties experiencing salmonella cases. According to the DSHS, confirmed cases have appeared in Harris, Fort Bend, Dallas, Tarrant, Hays and Cameron counties.

The CDC advised consumers to avoid eating or handling raw red plum, red Roma and round red tomatoes unless they know the source.

Consumers “should be aware that raw tomatoes are often used in the preparation of fresh salsa, guacamole and pico de gallo, are part of fillings for tortillas and are used in many other dishes,” the CDC Web site sated.

The CDC Web site lists sources of tomatoes that have not been associated with the outbreak: www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes with the vine still attached and those tomatoes grown at home do not appear to be involved in the outbreak, according to the CDC.