US: Fatal salmonella outbreak linked to ground turkey

By Dean Best | 3 August 2011

A salmonella outbreak that has killed one person and made over 70 ill in the US has been linked to ground turkey.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday (1 August) that it was working with the US Department of Agriculture to investigate an outbreak of salmonella heidelberg infections across 26 states.

The CDC said the 77 illnesses and the fatality had been reported between 1 March and 1 August. Reports in the US said the person killed was in California.

Health officials have gathered data on 51 of the persons who fell ill and 49% reported eating ground turkey, the CDC said.

It added that four ground turkey samples bought from four retail stores between 7 March and 27 June had the outbreak strain of salmonella heidelburg.

"Preliminary information indicates that three of these products originated from a common production establishment; the fourth is still under investigation," the CDC said.

Sectors: Food safety, Meat & poultry