A Texas woman has become the second person to die in a nationwide salmonella outbreak linked to tainted cucumbers sold by a California company, health officials reported Wednesday.
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The latest victim, a Texas woman, died in late August. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems may contract serious and sometimes deadly infections.
South Carolina is among the 30 states with cases of Salmonella poona linked back to imported cucumbers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
At least 70 people have ended up in the hospital.
California had the most illnesses, at 72, followed by Arizona with 66 and Utah with 30.
The CDC said, “The outbreak stemmed from tainted cucumbers that were imported from Mexico and distributed by the San Diego-based Andrew and Williamson Fresh Produce company”. It also said that only cucumbers have been recalled, and other vegetables and fruits are not part of the recall.
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The contaminated cucumbers were distributed to states including Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, though “further distribution to other states may have occurred”, the CDC warned.
