A total of nine patients in Tennessee were found to have suffered from Salmonella Heidelberg infections after consuming Tyson Foods mechanically separated chicken in January, according to the final outbreak report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All nine of the patients were inmates at a single correctional facility at the time of the outbreak. Two were hospitalized due to their infections. Due to the outbreak, on Jan. 10, 2014, Tyson Foods recalled 33,840 pounds of mechanically separated chicken designated for institutional use. The recalled products weren’t available for purchase at any retail stores. CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) performed antibiotic resistance testing on Salmonella isolates from each of the patients, as well as one isolate from a contaminated chicken sample. Two of the isolates from patients were multidrug-resistant, meaning they were resistant to at least one antibiotic in three or more antibiotic classes. All other isolates were susceptible to all antibiotics tested. CDC tracked 23 other illnesses from 15 states involving the same Salmonella strain occurring near the time of this outbreak, but determined through investigation that they were not connected to the patients in Tennessee. The sources of those infections were not identified. —– Screenshot taken from YouTube video showing mechanical deboning of chicken.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
This is part 1 of a 3-part series.
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