Salmonella case turns up in Trumbull

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ Seven cases in Ohio so far, including one in Trumbull County, are part of a national outbreak of salmonella linked to peanut butter, the Ohio Department of Health reported Friday.

Nearly 300 people in 39 states have fallen ill since August, and federal health investigators said they strongly suspect Peter Pan peanut butter and certain batches of Wal-Mart's Great Value house brand — both manufactured by ConAgra Foods Inc.

Shoppers across the country were warned to throw out jars with a product code on the lid beginning with ''2111,'' which denotes the plant where it was made.

In Ohio, one case each reported from Cuyahoga, Franklin, Miami, Montgomery, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties have shown a genetic link to the strain of salmonella, Health Department spokesman Kristopher Weiss said.

''There are tests going on, on other samples,'' he said, and the number could be updated next week. So far the cases have been genetically linked but none of the patients has been interviewed to see if they ate peanut butter, he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was focusing its investigation on ConAgra's only peanut butter plant, in Sylvester, Ga.

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