Tainted Tomato Cases Jump to 383 People in 30 states, D.C.

The number of people known to have fallen ill after eating salmonella-tainted tomatoes has now jumped to 383 in 30 states plus the District of Columbia, U.S. health officials announced Wednesday afternoon.

“The marked increase is not due to new infections but mainly because some states improved surveillance in response to this outbreak and laboratory identification of many other previously submitted strains has now been completed,” said Casey Barton Behravesh, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a teleconference. “We now have reports of at least 48 persons being hospitalized due to this illness.”

The ages of the patients ranges from under 1 to 88 years old, and 47 percent of them are female. The most recent onset of illness was June 5; the outbreak was first discovered in April.

“We are continuing to receive reports of ill people,” said Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC's division of food-borne, bacterial and mycotic diseases. “We do not think the outbreak is over.”

Read the full HealthDay News story here.