CDC links peanut butter to salmonella outbreak

.A salmonella outbreak has now made 410 people in 43 states sick. It may also be linked to the deaths of three people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says peanut butter is the “likely source” of the nationwide infection.

And the Minnesota Department of Health says genetic testing shows the salmonella in a five-pound tub of peanut butter that infected nursing home residents there is the same strain as the one in the national outbreak.

Peanut Corporation of America, based in Lynchburg, Va., makes the spread. It is distributed nationally by Ohio-based King Nut Companies, which has recalled the products. The peanut butter is not sold in grocery stores – just to places like schools, hospitals, restaurants, and long-term-care facilities.

All the illnesses began between September 15 and January 7, but most people got sick after October 1. Below is a map from the CDC showing the spread of the outbreak across the U.S.

Salmonella symptoms

Symptoms of salmonella food poisoning include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12-72 hours after you’re infected. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without any treatment, but there can be severe infections especially in people with a weakened immune system, infants and the elderly.

More information

If you think you’ve gotten sick from eating peanut butter, contact your doctor right away. There is more information about this recall here on the FDA’s website.

[Photo Credit: stock.xchng]

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