CMR

Source Of Outbreak Still Unknown After 869 People Become Sick

Washington, D.C.-Health officials across the nation are frustrated at their inability to find the source of the Salmonella illness that is gripping the nation.

So far there have been 107 people that have had to be hospitalized, and 869 people that have been infected by the “Saint Paul” variety of the salmonella virus.

Officials have looked long and hard at tomatoes as the root cause, but at this point they are not ruling out other types of produce or food as possible causes.

Simply put: Officials don’t know the source of the illness nor can they eliminate the cause if they can’t find what it is to eliminate.

The US Food and Drug Administration has just expanded its overall investigation to include different foods that are served with tomatoes in an effort to tie down what the cause of the salmonella illness is.

“We would be irresponsible to say what we are testing, we are not going to discuss what items we are examining at the present time,” said Dr. David Acheson.

Dr. David Acheson is the Food Protection Associate Commissioner for the FDA, and one of the officials working hard to try and find the salmonella root cause.