Published Date: 2007-12-13 21:00:21
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Salmonellosis, antibiotic resistant - USA: (AZ), RFI
Archive Number: 20071213.4014
SALMONELLOSIS, ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT - USA: (ARIZONA), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
*****************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Wed 12 Dec 2007
Source: KPHO (AZ) [edited]
<http://www.kpho.com/news/14842339/detail.html>
At least 14 people in Arizona have been struck with a particularly
powerful strain of _Salmonella_ with about half them needing hospital
care, state health officials said. Workers inside the state health
lab have been on the trail of the outbreak since late October 2007.
They are growing samples of the _Salmonella_ bacteria taken from
those people who have been ill from the germ to see if has the same
genetic fingerprint as the kind of _Salmonella_ that's made people
sick in California, Nevada, and Idaho, said Ken Komatsu, Arizona
Department of Health Services epidemiologist.
"This particular strain has a fairly high rate of hospitalization,"
Komatsu said. "Half of our cases have been hospitalized."
The latest outbreak is showing another unusual characteristic.
Komatsu said the ability of the strain to resist antibiotics may
partly explain why so many people who are getting it need hospital
care. It's also unusual because cases are more likely to occur in
summer than late fall or winter.
Experts said they think the outbreak got started when many people
bought and ate some kind of food product that was sold by a chain
store. The product involved has not yet been identified.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED Rapporteur Brent Barrett
[ProMED would appreciate more information about the strain including
its serotype and resistance pattern and what information is available
regarding potential vehicles of transmission. - Mod.LL]