Well, put down those onions – Or, well you should have last summer. Yet another outbreak, although at this point it looks a lot smaller than the previous two.

I have received a few calls from reporters asking why it seems to take so long to figure these outbreaks out – check out the dates when the outbreaks started and ended below. On all of the outbreaks, the illnesses had peaked and were declining before the outbreak was announced and a recall initiated.

Here is a slide I use to explain how difficult it can be to pinpoint the source of even a large, multi-state outbreak even when all the people impacted share the same genetic (WGS) strain of Salmonella – or other bug.

As of October 24, 2023, a total of 73 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from 22 states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from August 2, 2023, to September 25, 2023. Of the 65 people with information available, 15 (23%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

As of January 20, 2022, a total of 1,040 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg were reported from 39 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Illnesses started on dates ranging from May 31, 2021, to January 1, 2022. Sick people ranged in age from less than 1 year to 101 years, with a median age of 38, and 58% were female. Of 778 people with information available, 260 (33%) were hospitalized. No deaths were reported.

As of October 8, 2020, a total of 1,127 people infected with the outbreak strain of SalmonellaNewport were reported from 48 states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from June 19, 2020, to September 11, 2020. Ill people ranged in age from less than 1 to 102 years, with a median age of 41. Fifty-eight percent of ill people were female. Of 705 ill people with information available, 167 people were hospitalized. No deaths were reported.