Until next time, Team Diarrhea
Posted on August 28th, 2008 – 4:58 PMBy Josephine Marcotty
The nation-wide salmonella outbreak that was solved in part by Minnesota’s Team Diarrhea crack disease investigators appears to be over, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. No new cases have been confirmed since Aug. 12.
But over the course of the summer some 1,442 people became ill in 43 states, 286 were hospitalized, and 2 died. In the end, the CDC said that jalapeno peppers and serrano peppers were vehicles, and tomatoes were a possible vehicle for the infectious pathogen early in the outbreak.
You can read the entire CDC report here.
CDC investigators concluded that the jalapeno peppers first identified as the culprit by Minnesota Health Department investigators in July were the primary vehicle. MDH investigators figured that out after 27 people became ill after eating peppers at a Minnesota restaurant. “Contamination of produce items might have occurred on the farm or during processing or distribution; the mechanism of contamination has not been determined,” the CDC said. “These findings indicate that additional measures are needed to enhance food safety and reduce illnesses from produce that is consumed raw.”
The Minnesota Department of Health cracked the case with the help of Team Diarrhea, which consists mostly of public health graduate students whose job it is to interview victims. The health department and it’s rapid investigation system has since been held up as a model for how the federal government should handle food borne disease outbreaks.
You can read about the MDH’s role in the investigation here.



