Third Minnesotan Dies After Salmonella Infection
A third Minnesota nursing home resident has died after becoming infected with the same strain of Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria that is causing hundreds of illnesses nationwide.
State Health Department officials told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the woman was in her 80s, but they wouldn't disclose her name nor say what day she died. The woman's death brings to seven nationwide the number of people whose death is associated with the 4-month-old outbreak..gif)
The two other Minnesotans are Shirley Mae Almer, 72, of Perham, who died Dec. 21; and Clifford Tousignant, 78, of Duluth, who died Jan. 12. Almer and Tousignant were both staying in nursing homes in Brainerd that served contaminated King Nut peanut butter. They were both infected with Salmonella and had other health conditions.
Fred Pritzker, a leading food safety lawyer, is set to file a lawsuit early next week in Hennepin County District Court for the heirs of Mrs. Almer. The Salmonela wrongful death lawsuit will name Peanut Corporation of America, the maker of bulk peanut butter and peanut paste that federal officials have said is the likely source of the deadly outbreak.
In all, there have been 491 illnesses in 43 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two deaths were reported in Virginia, one in North Carolina and one in Idaho.
In Minnesota, there have been 36 cases -- fourth most in the country. A state Health Department epidemeologist, Dr. Carolota Medus, told the University of Minnesota's Center for Infections Disease Research and Policy that the Minnesota cases started showing up in November.
She said health investigators got a big break when a physician from northern Minnesota reported a cluster of Salmonella cases at a nursing home. When clusters in other institutions occurred, state investigators gathered food invoices from the places and noticed that they had something in common: King Nut peanut butter from the Sysco food distributor based in Fargo.
At the nursing home where Mrs. Almer was staying, the state took samples of peanut butter from a container that had been in use there. What lab specialists found was the same strain of Salmonella alive in the outbreak. The discovery turned the attention of federal authorities to Peanut Corporation of America's processing plant in Blakely, Georgia.
Since the Minnesota departments of health and agriculture announced their finding on January 9, other government labs have found additional evidence tying the outbreak to the Georgia plant. The facility has been closed, its 50 workers laid off and a massive recall of peanut butter and peanut paste has ensued.
Because the bulk peanut butter and peanut paste from the South Georgia plant were sold to more than 80 food companies as ingredients for other products, more than 180 items have been recalled across the nation because they might contain adulterated peanut butter or paste. Among the earlier products pulled were peanut butter snack crackers made by Kellogg Company under the Austin and Keebler brand names.
