Lynne Terry, the food poisoning lady of the Portland Oregonian, tells the horroe story of the Lee/ Mullen-Bagby family’s nightmare – “ground turkey … put their baby Ruby in the hospital for seven days in June.”
Ten months old and eating meat only for a few weeks, Ruby was sickened by salmonella-tainted ground turkey. She’s the only known case in Oregon and has recovered but an elderly woman in Sacramento County, California died in the outbreak. So far, 78 confirmed cases have been reported in 26 states from March to August.
On Wednesday, a subsidiary of Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., one of the top meat companies in the United States, recalled 36 million pounds of fresh and frozen ground turkey in one of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history. All of the recalled meat was produced at an Arkansas plant, which is now shut while the company investigates the source of the contamination.
Mom, Melissa Lee and Dad, Brandon Mullen-Bagby will not be likely buying Cargill products – ever.
It’s been six weeks since Diana Goodpasture left Akron General Medical Center after being treated for Salmonella poisoning.
She says the Summit County Board of Health confirmed to her that she’s one of the cases linked to the national outbreak.
Goodpasture remembers eating a ground turkey burger and the next day experiencing severe diarrhea that got progressively worse. The dehydration forced a five day hospital stay.
Cuyahoga County confirmed three cases linked to the outbreak, but Deputy Director Dave Kovell says the CDC still hasn’t pinpointed the source.
He says any salmonella in ground turkey can be killed as long as the meat is cooked thoroughly and a minimum of 165 degrees.