In November 2023, people across the United States began reporting symptoms associated with food poisoning. Their symptoms included diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps and vomiting. Acting quickly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worked with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state public health officials to identify a Salmonella outbreak in 33 states.
To identify the source of the outbreak, public health officials asked sick people what foods they had eaten the previous week. Learning that 74 percent of those falling ill reported eating charcuterie meats, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture honed in, and using a advanced genetic sequencing techniques, analyzed an unopened charcuterie package from a sick person’s home. The results were conclusive, finding that the Salmonella in the charcuterie sampler was closely related to the bacteria causing the illness around the country.
Though 104 people were infected in the outbreak, which lasted from November 2023 until February 2024, the actual number of people impacted was likely much higher since many people recover from Salmonella without medical care and are never tested. According to CDC, for every person with a confirmed case of Salmonella, 30 more are not reported.
In response, the contaminated charcuterie meat products were recalled from shelves.
Had it not been for a coordinated response, strengthened by systems that allow CDC to monitor crucial information about dangerous infections, this outbreak may not have been caught and more lives would have been impacted.