The Food and Drug Administration is investigating a new outbreak of infections from Salmonella Saintpaul.
The agency has not yet identified a source of the pathogen, which has sickened at least 44 people. The FDA has not released any patient information, including patients’ ages or where they live.
The FDA’s investigators have not begun any specific activities, such as food traceback, on-site inspections or sample testing.
There are likely many more sick people in the outbreak than those included in the officials count. This is because many people do not seek medical attention and others are not specifically tested for Salmonella infection. Public health officials estimate that for every person who is confirmed as a patient in a Salmonella outbreak there are 29 who go undetected.
In other news, The FDA has updated the patient count in a Listeria outbreak to 27. The agency has not reported the patients’ ages or where they live. As of Dec. 3 there have been 27 patients identified.
The FDA investigators have begun traceback efforts but the agency is not reporting what food is being traced. The FDA first posted the outbreak on Sept. 4.
It can take up to 70 days for symptoms of Listeria infection to develop and another several weeks for patient information to be uploaded to federal authorities, so additional patients may still be discovered.
