Health department probes source of salmonella infection at stores

Tests will say whether the strain matches that in Sheetz produce.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
TRANSFER, Pa. -- Patty Schuster bought the sandwich she thinks made her sick at the Sheetz store here just one day before Sheetz Inc. had all of its stores get rid of lettuce and tomatoes used to make sandwiches.
The Sheetz directive to its 300 stores Wednesday came within hours of the Pennsylvania Department of Health's determining that a salmonella outbreak that has affected about 110 people appears to have originated in produce supplied to Sheetz.
Infection onset
Schuster, 42, of Speirs Shadeland Estates, said she bought a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes on it Tuesday night and began feeling ill the next day.
She thought she had the flu but went to UPMC Horizon on Friday at the urging of her family to find out whether it might be something else.
She said the hospital notified her Sunday that it was salmonella.
The hospital confirmed one case of salmonella poisoning has occurred but didn't identify the victim.
Schuster said she publicly announced her illness to alert other people to a possible problem. Others may have become ill and think they just have the flu, she said.
The cases have risen around southwestern Pennsylvania, and Schuster's case is the first to be reported in either Mercer or Lawrence County.
Richard McGarvey, a Department of Health spokesman, said his agency will determine whether the strain of salmonella that affected Schuster is the same that has turned up in the other cases.
Tracing origins
He said the state Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it found salmonella in an unopened package of Roma tomatoes supplied to a Sheetz store in Greencastle, Franklin County.
That sample is being tested to see whether it is the same strain that has made people ill, he said.
The Department of Agriculture identified the supplier as Coronet Foods of West Virginia.
Nena Ellis, Sheetz spokeswoman, said the company ordered all of its stores to remove all lettuce and tomatoes from its food preparation areas and to re-sanitize those areas Wednesday.
The company immediately arranged to have a new supplier provide produce to the stores, she said.
Ellis said the company has heard of Schuster's case.
Schuster said she has been in contact with the company's insurance carrier regarding unpaid medical bills and lost wages.
She works at Sky Bank in Kinsman and missed several days of work.
She said Monday that she was feeling much better and expects to learn by week's end whether the salmonella that affected her is the same strain found in the other cases.
Schuster said she worked at the Sheetz store here for about four years before taking a job with Sky Bank. She said she and her husband, Richard, frequently buy food there.
She bought a salad there the Sunday night before her illness and bought muffins and tea there the next two mornings. She went back Tuesday night to get a turkey sandwich, she said.