A lethal strain of salmonella has sickened 255 people and killed two people between 2018-2019.
What We Know:
- There is a lethal strain of Salmonella Newport that experts are calling “superbugs”. The strain is reportedly not responding to the antibiotics designed to fight it, USA TODAY reports. This strain is the most common food-poisoning strain in the U.S.
- According to CNN, the salmonella infections were linked to beef obtained in the United States and soft cheese obtained in Mexico.The CDC found that this suggests that the strain could be present in cattle in both countries. Eighty-nine of the people who contracted the infection had recently traveled to Mexico.
- Experts are becoming very concerned about the next steps for this strain and how to fight it. The food-poisoning salmonella strain is not always treated by medicine, as some people may not need it.
- “We are continuing to see cases occurring among patients,” said Dr. Ian Plumb, an epidemiologist in the CDC’s Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch. It is being requested that individuals stay away from unpasteurized milk, soft cheese and beef in unsafe temperatures.
CDC estimates Salmonella causes about 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths in the United States every year. Food is the source for about 1 million of these illnesses.
