At least 73 people in 18 states have fallen ill with Salmonella Saintpaul infection thought to be connected to imported cucumbers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fourteen of the patients were hospitalized. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed the firms Daniel Cardenas Izabal and Miracle Greenhouse of Culiacán, Mexico on import alert on April 24. Those cucumbers are no longer believed to be on the market. The number ill by state is as follows: Arizona (9), California (28), Colorado (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (3), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Maryland (1), Minnesota (8), Nevada (1), New Mexico (2), North Carolina (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (2), South Dakota (2), Texas (6), Virginia (2) and Wisconsin (2). Illness onset dates ranged from January 12, 2013 to April 6, 2013. The ill range in age from less than 1 year to 80 years old, with a median age of 23. Sixty percent are female. Cucumbers are historically not associated with foodborne illness outbreaks. During a massive German E. coli outbreak in the summer of 2011, cucumbers were briefly suspected as the source before the blame was ultimately blamed on fresh sprouts. In April 2011, a North Carolina company voluntarily recalled cucumbers due to a potential Salmonella risk.
Graphics courtesy of CDC.
