The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday afternoon that, as of Jan. 15, a total of 430 persons infected with seven outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg have been reported from 23 states and Puerto Rico.
The situation prompted a public health alert on Oct. 7, 2013, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service due to concerns that the illness was associated with chicken products produced at three Foster Farms processing facilities in California.
Most of the ill persons (74 percent) have been reported from California. The number of those ill identified in each state is as follows: Alaska (1), Arkansas (1), Arizona (19), California (321), Colorado (9), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Florida (4), Idaho (5), Illinois (1), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Michigan (3), Missouri (5), North Carolina (1), Nevada (10), New Mexico (2), Oregon (10), Puerto Rico (1), Texas (10), Utah (2), Virginia (4), Washington (16), and Wisconsin (1).
Among 418 persons for whom information is available, illness onset dates range from March 1, 2013, to Dec. 26, 2013. Ill persons range in age from less than one year to 93 years, with a median age of 18 years. Fifty-two percent of ill persons are male. Thirteen percent of ill persons have developed blood infections as a result of their illness. Typically, approximately 5 percent of persons ill with Salmonella infections develop blood infections. No deaths have been reported.
