2018 Salmonella Infections Linked to Ground Beef – Outbreak Investigation Updates by Date
Final Update
Posted March 22, 2019 at 3:15 PM ET
This outbreak appears to be over. Consumers and restaurants should always handle and cook ground beef safely to help prevent foodborne illness.
December 12, 2018
Since the last update on November 15, 2018, 87 more ill people have been added to this investigation.
As of December 12, 2018, 333 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport have been reported from 28 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from August 5, 2018 to November 9, 2018. Ill people range in age from less than one year to 99, with a median age of 40. Fifty-two percent are male. Of 274 people with information available, 91 (33%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
State and local health departments continue to ask ill people questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 227 people interviewed, 200 (88%) reported eating ground beef at home. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 787 KB] of healthy people in which 40% of respondents reported eating any ground beef at home in the week before they were interviewed.
This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide updates when more information is available.
November 15, 2018
Since the last update on October 23, 2018, 126 more ill people have been added to this investigation.
As of November 15, 2018, 246 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport have been reported from 25 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from August 5, 2018 to October 16, 2018. Ill people range in age from less than one year to 88, with a median age of 38. Fifty-six percent are male. Of 168 people with information available, 59 (35%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
Whole genome sequencing analysis did not identify predicted antibiotic resistance in 180 Salmonella bacteria isolates from 176 ill people and four food samples. Testing of seven outbreak isolates using standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory confirmed these results.
State and local health departments continue to ask ill people questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 137 people interviewed, 123 (90%) reported eating ground beef at home. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 787 KB] of healthy people in which 40% of respondents reported eating any ground beef at home in the week before they were interviewed.
Officials in Arizona collected an unopened package of ground beef from an ill person’s home. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport was identified in the ground beef. Whole genome sequencing showed that the Salmonella identified in the ground beef was closely related genetically to the Salmonella in samples from ill people. The ground beef was one of the products recalled on October 4, 2018.
This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide updates when more information is available.
October 23, 2018
Since the last update on October 4, 2018, 63 more ill people have been added to this investigation.
As of October 23, 2018, 120 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport have been reported from 22 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from August 5, 2018 to September 28, 2018. Ill people range in age from less than one year to 88, with a median age of 42. Fifty-nine percent are male. Of 95 people with information available, 33 (35%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
State and local health departments continue to ask ill people questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Sixty-six (93%) of 71 people interviewed reported eating ground beef at home. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 787 KB] of healthy people in which 40% of respondents reported eating any ground beef at home in the week before they were interviewed.
This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide updates when more information is available.
October 4, 2018
CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Newport infections.
Public health investigators are using the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that may be part of this outbreak. PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC. DNA fingerprinting is performed on Salmonella bacteria isolated from ill people by using techniques called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). CDC PulseNet manages a national database of these DNA fingerprints to identify possible outbreaks. WGS gives a more detailed DNA fingerprint than PFGE. WGS performed on bacteria isolated from ill people showed that they were closely relatedly genetically. This means that people in this outbreak are more likely to share a common source of infection.
As of October 4, 2018, 57 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport have been reported from 16 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from August 5, 2018, to September 6, 2018. Ill people range in age from less than one year to 88, with a median age of 33. Sixty-one percent are male. Of 45 people with information available, 14 (31%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
Investigation of the Outbreak
Epidemiologic and traceback evidence indicates that ground beef produced by JBS Tolleson, Inc. of Tolleson, Arizona, is a likely source of this outbreak.
In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Thirty-six (92%) of 39 people interviewed reported eating ground beef at home. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 787 KB] of healthy people in which 40% of respondents reported eating any ground beef at home in the week before they were interviewed. Also, several ill people ate ground beef at the same events or purchased ground beef at the same grocery store chains. When several unrelated ill people ate at the same event or shopped at the same store within several days of each other, it suggests that the contaminated food item was served or sold there.
USDA-FSIS and state partners traced the source of the ground beef eaten by ill people in this outbreak to JBS Tolleson, Inc. On October 4, 2018, JBS Tolleson, Inc. recalled approximately 6.5 million pounds of beef products that may be contaminated with Salmonella Newport.
This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide updates when more information is available.
