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People Advised to Check Their Eggs Due to Salmonella Outbreak

 

People all over America are in a panic due to the news of 35 salmonella-related illnesses which lead to a 200-million-egg recall last month.Thankfully, no deaths have been reported as of writing, but 11 people have been hospitalized with salmonellosis, which is the name of the infection contracted because of the bacteria.

The outbreak is said to be connected to eggs coming from Indiana-based Rose Acre Farms’ Hyde County facility in North Carolina. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning everyone to not eat these eggs. Retailers, consumers, and restaurants should not sell, eat, or serve the said recalled eggs produced by Rose Acre Farms’ Hyde County farm.

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Everyone who is in possession of them must throw them away or return them to the place of purchase in order to get a refund.

Everyone is advised to check any eggs in their fridge. The parcels sold various brand names like Country Daybreak, Coburn Farms, Food Lion, Great Value, Glenview, Nelms, Publix, Sunshine Farms, and Sunups. Do a little investigating on the packaging for these following numbers, which are provided by the CDC: P-1065 (the plant number) and another set of numbers between 011- 102 also known as the Julian date, or, for Sunups and Publix egg cartons with plant number P-1359D and Julian date 048A, 049A with Best By dates of APR 02-APR 03.

Just hope that your eggs are either not a cause of concern, or you already threw away the contaminated cartons. Aside from that though, here are some additional info about the said bacteria, and how to ensure that you and your loved ones are safe from this.

What is salmonella?

Salmonella is actually relatively common all over the world: There are about 1.2 million cases a year, and more than 85% of those cases are caused by food, according to the CDC. According to food safety specialist Argyris Magoulas, who is affiliated with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), there are different kinds of bacteria in the salmonella family, Two types—Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium—are the most common in the U.S.

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Along with E. coli and listeria, salmonella is one of the more common causes of what most of us would call food poisoning.

The bacteria live in both animal and human intestines and they cause sickness when people eat foods that have actually been contaminated with salmonella-tainted feces.

It is actually pretty common because raw meat, poultry, and seafood may come in contact with fecal matter during butchering or harvesting, and fruits and vegetables run the risk of being washed in water that has been contaminated with said fecal matter. And if chickens are infected, they can also lay eggs that contain salmonella bacteria, according to the Mayo Clinic.

However, what’s cause for concern is that the current outbreak is tied to a rarer type of the bacteria which is called Salmonella Braenderup. In the past, Salmonella Braenderup outbreaks came from mangoes and tomatoes.

So far, the FDA’s investigation has traced this outbreak to lack of sanitation at the Hyde Country facility, specifically pointing to rodents being within the vicinity of the food. The bacteria which is thought to have been carried by rodents, could have penetrated eggs through even the finest of cracks. Magoulas says that Salmonella could be either outside, or even inside the egg.

Salmonella symptoms to watch for

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The three major symptoms of salmonella are uncomfortable to say the least: fever, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. They appear about 12 to 72 hours after a person is infected with the bacteria, and they usually last about four to seven days. Luckily, most people recover even without any treatment, according to the FDA.

But there are cases where the diarrhea can be extremely severe, leading to dehydration and hospitalization. When symptoms are that bad, a person is in risk of the infection spreading to the blood and then other body parts, which is when salmonella can become a killer if not properly treated with antibiotics.

Children, the elderly, and people that have immune systems that are already weakened by other medical conditions or treatments, are extremely likely to have severe salmonella infections due to their low tolerance, according to the FDA.

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