The final case count for the Salmonella outbreak in Kenosha County, WI, in May was 70 people. The illnesses, first reported to the Kenosha County Division of Health (KCDOH) on May 14, were eventually linked to pork carnitas sold at Supermercado Los Corrales during Mother’s Day weekend (May 8-10, 2015). A public health nurse conducted case investigations on the reports and detected that at least 10 people were ill with similar complaints after eating food purchased from one food establishment. The chief complaints reported included diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal cramping and fever. The meat and food preparation area of Supermercado Los Corrales was temporarily closed during the investigation on May 18 and reopened June 4. In early July, Health Officer Cynthia Johnson presented a case study of the outbreak to the Kenosha County Human Services Committee meeting. Some of the investigation’s majors strengths, Johnson said, were the early identification of illnesses, the department’s Incident Command System, and collaboration with the Wisconsin Division of Public Health Communicable Disease team, the Kenosha Unified School District staff, local and regional media, and the Kenosha County government. She also identified two areas for improvement. The efficiency of entering data into the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System should be improved, and the Kenosha County phone system should be reviewed for effective utilization during an event. (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)
