News Brief

This is the largest outbreak of food-borne illness in 10 years, says the CDC.

Washington Post

“Federal health officials now blame raw jalapeños for some of the illnesses in the three-month-old salmonella outbreak and yesterday advised the elderly, infants and people with compromised immune systems to avoid them.

“Investigators still think tomatoes — the original suspect in the outbreak — have made people sick and are considering the possibility that the same rare strain of salmonella has contaminated both tomatoes and peppers.

“The number of people who have gotten sick has reached 1,017, making it the largest outbreak of food-borne illness in 10 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One death, of a Texas man in his 80s, has been linked to the outbreak. Another Texas man, in his 60s, who died of cancer, was infected with the outbreak strain.

“The new warning also applies to raw serrano peppers, which are often confused with jalapeños.”

Source: Washington Post, July 9, 2008