Highlights
- Read the Advice to Consumers and Retailers(http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/muenchen-02-16/advice.html)>>
- Thirteen people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Muenchen have been reported from four states.
- Five ill people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
- Collaborative investigative efforts of state, local, and federal public health and regulatory officials indicate that alfalfa sprouts produced by Sweetwater Farms of Inman, Kansas are a likely source of this outbreak.
- In interviews, 10 (83%) of 12 ill people reported eating or maybe eating sprouts or menu items containing sprouts in the week before becoming ill. Nine (90%) of these 10 ill people reported eating alfalfa sprouts. One ill person reported purchasing Sweetwater Farms brand alfalfa sprouts from a grocery store.
- State and local health and regulatory officials performed traceback investigations from five different restaurant locations where ill people ate sprouts. These investigations indicated that Sweetwater Farms supplied alfalfa sprouts to all five locations.
- Laboratory testing isolated Salmonella from samples of irrigation water and alfalfa sprouts collected during a recent inspection at Sweetwater Farms. Further testing is ongoing to determine the type and DNA fingerprint of Salmonella isolated in these samples.
- The information available to date indicates that alfalfa sprouts produced by Sweetwater Farms may be contaminated with Salmonella and are not safe to eat.
- On February 19, 2016, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a press release warning consumers not to eat sprouts from Sweetwater Farms.
- We recommend that consumers do not eat and restaurants and other retailers do not sell or serve alfalfa sprouts produced by Sweetwater Farms at this time.
- This investigation is ongoing, and we will update the public when more information becomes available.
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