February 15, 2019

Since the last update on December 21, 63 ill people from 24 states and the District of Columbia have been added to this investigation.

As of February 13, 2019, 279 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Reading have been reported from 41 states and the District of Columbia. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.

Illnesses started on dates from November 20, 2017, to January 29, 2019. Ill people range in age from less than 1 year to 101, with a median age of 43. Fifty-three percent of ill people are female. Of 222 people with information available, 107 (48%) have been hospitalized. One death has been reported from California.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis did not identify predicted antibiotic resistance in 157 isolates from 79 ill people and 78 food, animal, environmental samples. However, 107 isolates from ill people and 115 isolates from food, animal, and environmental samples contained genes for resistance or decreased susceptibility to all or some of the following antibiotics: ampicillin, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, kanamycin, gentamicin, nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, and fosfomycin. Testing of 8 outbreak isolates using standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory confirmed these results (fosfomycin and kanamycin were not tested by this method). Most of the infections in this outbreak are susceptible to the antibiotics that are commonly used for treatment, so this resistance likely will not affect the choice of antibiotic used to treat most people.

Investigation of the Outbreak

State and local health departments continue to interview ill people about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Seventy-eight (55%) of the 141 ill people interviewed reported preparing or eating turkey products that were purchased raw, including ground turkey, turkey pieces, and whole turkey. Ill people reported buying many different brands of raw turkey products from multiple stores. Also, 4 of the 141 ill people interviewed became sick after pets in their home ate raw ground turkey pet foodExternal. Five of the 141 ill people interviewed worked in a facility that raises or processes turkeys, or lived with someone who did.

Public health and regulatory officials in Minnesota identified the outbreak strain of Salmonella Reading in samples of raw turkey pet food from Woody’s Pet Food Deli. One ill person from Minnesota lived in a household where a pet regularly ate raw turkey pet food from Woody’s Pet Food Deli. On January 28, 2019, Woody’s Pet Food Deli in Minnesota recalledExternal raw turkey pet food.

Ill people in this outbreak report buying many different brands of raw turkey products from multiple stores. Available data indicate that this strain of Salmonella Reading may be present in live turkeys and in raw turkey products. A single, common supplier of raw turkey products, or of live turkeys, has not been identified that could account for the whole outbreak.