Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration are investigating a salmonella epidemic with several states linked to at least 1.7 million eggs, according to a statement published on Saturday.
The brown cage and brown certified eggs were distributed by the egg company from August from February 3 to May 15 at retailers of nine states – California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Nebraska, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana and Wyoming, by the FDA.
In a announcement Friday, the distribution company based in Hilmar, California, recalled 1.7 million eggs, which have sales dates from March 4 to 19 and were sold to retailers such as Walmart and Safeway, as well as under many different brands that can be seen here.
So far, the epidemic has overturned 79 people in New Jersey, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona, Washington and California, the CDC said. At least 21 people were hospitalized and no death was reported.
“This epidemic may not be limited to states with known diseases, and the real number of sick people is probably much higher than the number reported,” said the CDC. “Indeed, many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella.”
Salmonella is a type of bacteria that can make people sick if they consume contaminated food and water, or affected animals, their fecal material or the areas in which they live, according to the CDC. This is “a main cause of illness, hospitalizations and deaths transmitted by food in the United States and worldwide”, causing approximately 1.35 million infections in the United States each year.
Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps and can start six hours to six days after the consumption of bacteria. Children under the age of five, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems can become seriously sick due to the contraction of Salmonella.
The CDC advises anyone who has the eggs recalled in their house to throw them or return them to the retailer who sold them. Companies with recalled eggs should not sell or serve them, and should disinfect any article or surface that has come into contact with the eggs.
The August egg company said that she had started to take her eggs in an “egg breakage installation” to pasteurize them and kill pathogens after learning Salmonella’s concern.
“Ugust Egg Company’s internal food security team also performs their own strict examination to identify the measures that can be established to prevent this recurring situation,” the company said in a statement. “We are committed to fully approaching this question and implementing all the corrective actions necessary to ensure that this will not happen again.”
It is not the only Salmonella epidemic with which the United States is currently struggling with.
Last month, the The FDA announced a recall of cucumbers cultivated by producers of Bedner and distributed by new sales of starting products due to A salmonella epidemic This has rekindled 45 people and hospitalized 16 in 18 states.
The FDA survey on cucumbers is underway.
