Number Sickened in Contaminated Turkey Outbreak Continues to Rise

Though it's been nearly two months since Cargill Meat Solutions recalled 36 million pounds of contaminated turkey, cases of Salmonella poisoning cases still are trickling in.

When the recall was announced in early August, 76 had been sickened and one had died in 26 states. A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 129 have now been infected in 34 states. The CDC estimates that 38 percent of reported cases have included hospitalizations.

Do not eat turkey involved in the recall.

Though the turkey was recalled, cases are believed to continue to appear because some of those products are still in the homes of consumers.

Heath officials have asked that consumers check their homes for products that could be contaminated including turkey chubs, ground turkey patties and frozen ground turkey produced by Cargill Meat Solutions with some labeled Honeysuckle White. Both fresh and frozen turkey were included in the recall. Consumers are asked not to eat turkey involved in the recall.

An additional 185,000 pounds of turkey produced by Cargill Meat Solutions was recalled on Sept. 11, and testing confirmed the presence of a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg.

Those infected with Salmonella usually  develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. Most who are infected recover within a week without the need for treatment. In some cases severe diarrhea or an infection that has spread to the bloodstream will require hospitalization and treatment with antibiotics. Older adults, infants and those with compromised immune systems are most prone to suffering from a severe form of the infection.

Salmonella can be killed by thoroughly cooking meat by thoroughly cooking at 165 degrees, though consumers are asked to instead return recalled products to the store where it was originally purchased for a refund.