A total of 81 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul have been reported from 18 states. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arizona (11), California (28), Colorado (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (3), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Maryland (1), Minnesota (9), Nevada (1), New Mexico (2), North Carolina (3), Ohio (3), Oregon (2), South Dakota (2), Texas (6), Virginia (3), and Wisconsin (2). Since the last update, 8 new ill persons have been reported from Arizona (2), Minnesota (1), North Carolina (2), Ohio (2), and Virginia (1). This PFGE pattern has rarely been seen before in PulseNet and in the past typically caused 0-5 cases per year.
29% of ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.
State public health officials are interviewing ill persons to obtain information regarding foods they might have eaten and other exposures in the week before illness. Consumption of imported cucumbers is the likely source of infection for the ill persons. On April 24, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed Daniel Cardenas Izabal and Miracle Greenhouse of Culiacán, Mexico on Import Alert. Cucumbers from these two firms will be denied admission into the United States unless the suppliers show that they are not contaminated with Salmonella.