June 30 CDC: 851, 36 states and DC; April 10 to June 20 onset

CDC: "clusters have led us to broaden the investigation." From the CDC Web page:

CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the Indian Health Service, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate an ongoing multi-state outbreak of human Salmonella serotype Saintpaul infections. An initial epidemiologic investigation comparing foods eaten by ill and well persons identified consumption of raw tomatoes as strongly linked to illness. Recently, many clusters of illnesses have been identified in Texas and other states among persons who ate at restaurants. These clusters have led us to broaden the investigation to be sure that it encompasses food items that are commonly consumed with tomatoes.
Since April, 851 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 36 states and the District of Columbia. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (10 persons), Arizona (39), California (10), Colorado (11), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (18), Idaho (3), Illinois (91), Indiana (11), Kansas (14), Kentucky (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (21), Michigan (6), Minnesota (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (3), Nevada (4), New Jersey (4), New Mexico (90), New York (26), North Carolina (5), Ohio (6), Oklahoma (19), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (346), Utah (2), Virginia (22), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (6), and the District of Columbia (1).
Among the 581 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 20, 2008, including 173 who became ill on June 1 or later. Many steps must occur between a person becoming ill and the determination that the illness was caused by the outbreak strain of Salmonella; these steps take an average of 2-3 weeks. Therefore, an illness reported today may have begun 2-3 weeks ago. Patients range in age from <1>



From the FDA's Web site, succinct one page summary:



Identifying the Salmonellosis outbreak
Person eats contaminated food, becomes ill, seeks medical care, testing occurs. Illness is reported to local health department.
State labs and PulseNet detect pathogen and link common "fingerprints."
Data show increased illness rates, multiple cases identified. On May 22nd, CDC and states identify outbreak in NM and TX. Suspect association with southwestern style food.
Local/state/CDC interview individuals to obtain detailed food histories of food consumption.
May 31, FDA begins investigation …
Raw red Roma, plum, and round tomatoes identified. CDC notifies FDA.
FDA investigation includes working with industry, local and state partners, federal partners, and foreign governments to identify the source of the contamination.
FDA issues consumer warnings about raw red Roma, plum, and round tomatoes, and increases sampling and lab analysis of these tomatoes.
FDA inspects and investigates farms and other critical points on the supply chain where the tomatoes may have become contaminated.
Future ...
FDA works with industry, states, foreign governments, and academia to prevent future outbreaks.