Contra Costa woman infected with salmonella illness tied to tomatoes

A California resident was infected with the same strain of Salmonella Saintpaul implicated in an outbreak of food-borne illnesses centered in Texas and New Mexico and linked to raw tomatoes, the state Department of Public Health said Friday.

The California woman, a resident of Contra Costa County, had recently traveled out of state, however, and authorities have not determined where she ate the contaminated tomatoes. She began to exhibit symptoms of the infection May 17, shortly after a trip to Illinois, where federal officials are investigating a number of salmonella-related illnesses.

She recovered without hospitalization, according to Contra Costa County officials.

Government investigators have determined that 71 people in Texas and New Mexico were sickened by the same substrain of the bacterium contracted by the Contra Costa woman, suggesting that all ingested tomatoes came from the same contaminated lot.

Another 34 illnesses in nine other states, including Illinois, may be linked to the outbreak. At least 17 people have been hospitalized because of the infection, but no deaths have been reported.

Officials have not determined where the contaminated tomatoes were grown and distributed. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have, however, ruled out many states and nations as potential sources and are encouraging shoppers in California and elsewhere to select tomatoes from those locations.

The FDA's "safe" list for tomatoes includes:

• Arkansas, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

• Puerto Rico.

• Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel and the Netherlands.

The FDA believes the contaminated tomatoes are likely to be of three field-grown (as opposed to greenhouse-grown) varieties: red Roma, red plum and round red.

The top three supermarket chains in the Sacramento region – Raley's, Safeway and Save-Mart – said they have obtained their tomatoes from locations the FDA has deemed safe and have not removed tomatoes from their shelves.

Whole Foods Market Inc. on Wednesday pulled all Roma and red round tomatoes from its shelves nationwide. On Friday, the company issued a statement saying that it is now supplying tomatoes from the FDA-approved areas.

Similarly, Jack in the Box Inc. pulled tomatoes earlier this week from its restaurants, but on Friday company officials announced they will resume serving them early next week.

Salmonella is usually transmitted to humans by the consumption of foods contaminated with animal feces. An infection can last four to seven days and may include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps.

Most people bounce back from the disease without treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But some develop more serious problems. Salmonella can spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then throughout the body, possibly leading to death.

Infants, elderly people and those with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness.

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