By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.Com
August 27, 2010
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors trying to trace the source
of Salmonella contamination at two giant egg producers say they have
found at least four samples so far.
The contamination has led to the recall of more than a half-billion eggs in the last week.
FDA Inspectors were dispatched to Iowa farms operated by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms and, within days, found evidence of Salmonella. In a news teleconference, FDA Associate Commissioner Jeff Farrar said inspectors found traces of Salmonella enteritidis in samples of chicken manure and in chicken feed.
Hens eating contaminated feed can become sick, laying eggs that contain the bacteria. The FDA's Sherri McGarry says the evidence gathered so far suggests that Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms are the probable sources of the salmonella outbreak.
Toll rises
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week raised its total of people who have gotten sick from eating contaminated eggs. The CDC says it has estimates more than 1,400 cases of Salmonella traceable to eggs occurred from May 1 though August 25.
However, the actual toll could be much higher. The CDC estimates as many as 38 unreported case of Salmonella for every reported case, meaning the actual toll could be 55,000 or more. No deaths from the illness have been confirmed.
So far, 39 brand names of eggs have been recalled and the FDA has published an updated list online.
Since May, CDC has identified a nationwide, four-fold increase in the number of Salmonella enteritidis (SE) cases through PulseNet, the national subtyping network made up of state and local public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories. CDC received reports of approximately 200 SE cases every week during late June and early July.
Higher than normal
Normally, CDC has received an average of some 50 reports of SE illness each week for the past five years. Many states have also reported increases of this pattern since May 2010, CDC said.
Epidemiologic investigations conducted by public health officials in California, Colorado, and Minnesota have revealed several restaurants or events where more than one person ill with this type of SE has eaten. Preliminary information from these investigations suggests that shell eggs are the likely source of infections in many of these restaurants or events.
FDA, CDC, and state partners conducted a traceback investigation
and found many of these restaurants or events received shell eggs from
a single firm: Wright County Egg, in Galt, Iowa. FDA said it is
currently conducting an extensive investigation at the firm in Iowa,
as well as Hillandale Farms.
