- WEDNESDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) — The number of people
sickened in the ongoing salmonella outbreak has now surpassed 1,000, and
while certain types of tomatoes remain the suspected cause, U.S. health
officials on Wednesday added hot peppers and cilantro as potential
suspects as well.

“We continue to get new reported cases every day,” Dr. Robert Tauxe,
deputy director of the division of foodborne, bacterial and mycotic
diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a
late-afternoon teleconference. “This is the largest food-borne outbreak in
the United States.”

Since the outbreak began in April, 1,017 people in 41 states, the
District of Columbia and Canada have fallen ill, and at least 203 people
have been hospitalized. One death — a Texas man in his 80s — has been
associated with the outbreak. Also, a man in his 60s who died in Texas
from cancer had a Salmonella Saintpaul infection at the time of his
death, the CDC reported Wednesday on its Web site.

In addition, according to the CDC, 300 of those people became ill
after June 1.

An initial investigation of the outbreak, in New Mexico and Texas,
suggested raw tomatoes as the likely source of the contamination. But a
larger, nationwide study comparing persons who were ill in June found that
those who were sickened were likely to have recently eaten raw tomatoes,
as well as fresh jalapeno and serrano peppers, and fresh cilantro. These
foods are typically consumed together, the CDC said.

Recently, many clusters of illnesses have been identified involving
people who had eaten in restaurants. In one cluster, illnesses were linked
to consumption of an item containing fresh tomatoes and fresh jalapeno
peppers. In another two clusters, illnesses were linked to a food item
containing fresh jalapeno peppers, leading federal officials to believe
that jalapeno peppers caused some of the reported illnesses, the CDC
said.

However, “at this we have not found any samples of tomatoes or peppers
positive for Salmonella Saintpaul,” Steve Sundlof, director of the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition, told reporters at the teleconference.

Tauxe added, “Neither tomatoes nor jalapenos explain the entire
outbreak at this point. We're presuming that both of them cause illness.”

When it comes to tomatoes, officials said the advice to consumers
remains the same: Avoid raw red plum, red Roma, round red tomatoes, and
products containing these raw tomatoes.

On Wednesday, Tauxe added that people at risk of infection, including
infants and elderly people, should avoid eating will jalapeno peppers.

Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea in humans. Some
40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States each year,
although the CDC estimates that because milder cases are not diagnosed or
reported, the actual number of infections may be 30 or more times greater.
Approximately 600 people die each year after being infected.

However, the strain of Salmonella Saintpaul had been previously
considered rare. In 2007, according to the CDC, there were only three
people infected in the country during April through June.

More information

Visit the CDC for more on the salmonella outbreak.