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Clinical and teaching microbiology laboratories are linked with a nationwide salmonella outbreak in the United States that has killed one person and sickened dozens of others, health officials confirmed on Friday.
Since August, about 73 people in 35 states have been sickened by salmonella bacteria, and some of those cases involve a strain of Salmonella typhimurium sold commercially to laboratories, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in remarks published by msnbc.com.
Illnesses have been tied to laboratories from Alaska to New York, with most reporting one or two cases. Five cases have been reported in Washington state and four in Minnesota.
The first illness occurred late August and the most recent cases were reported March 8, according to the CDC.
The patients include employees and students of the laboratories, as well as children in the homes of people who work or study at the labs.
Patients ranged in age from less than one to 91, with a median age of 24, the CDC said.
Cases that developed after March 19 may not yet be included in the total because of the lag time in assessing and reporting illness, said the report.
CDC officials warned that bacteria used in the labs can be transmitted through contaminated lab coats, pens, notebooks, car keys and other items brought into the labs.
The CDC is working with local and state health departments, the American Society for Microbiology and the Association of Public Health Laboratories to track the outbreak, the report said.
Salmonella infections typically result in diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. They can be dangerous in very young children or people with compromised immune systems.
XINHUA
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