FSIS USDA
Outbreaks at a Glance
Illnesses 542 States included 36 Hospitalizations 163 Deaths 1
Response at a Glance
Ill people with 40 documentation to identify foods
Recall or Public Health Alert Yes Process improvement – Yes
•This Salmonella Newport strain associated with ground beef has been characterized as a reoccurring strain because it has caused repeated outbreaks of human illnesses with similar epidemiologic characteristics. Every month, FSIS monitors selected Salmonella serotypes, including Newport, for directional changes and trends, and compares them to a 3-year historical average for that particular serotype.
Highlights
•A strain of Salmonella Newport caused reoccurring human infections and two outbreaks associated with ground beef.
•There were over 100 illnesses for each outbreak (106 in outbreak 1 and 436 in outbreak 2), which is unusual for ground beef outbreaks.
•The investigations prompted a government-industry collaboration on innovative methods of obtaining shopper history. Shopper history best practices and success stories are highlighted in an article on the Association of Food and Drug Officials webpage.
What Happened?
From 2016 to 2019, in collaboration with public health partners, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) investigated two Salmonella Newport outbreaks:
•The majority of reported ill people lived in the Southwestern area of the United States.
•The analyzed isolates did not show any predicted antimicrobial resistance.
•At least 80% of the ill people had eaten ground beef in the week before illness. At least one ground beef sample tested positive for Salmonella Newport and was closely related by whole genome sequencing (WGS) to clinical isolates.
•Ill people reported eating or possibly eating undercooked ground beef.
