A Salmonela Enteritidis outbreak at a Nebraska correctional facility this year sickened at least 15 people, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) for the week of July 15, 2022. The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (LLCDH) notified the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services of two cases of laboratory-confirmed Salmonella in inmates on January 14, 2022.
The investigation linked consumption of mechanically separated chicken to the illnesses. Mechanically separated chicken is produced by separating edible meat from bone and cartilage under pressure. It is often used for use in institutions like prisons, jails, and correctional facilities because it’s cheap. A Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to that product sickened at least nine inmates in Tennessee in 2015.