Saturday, February 17, 2007
The county health department became aware of the salmonella patient Jan. 16.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- An 81-year-old Trumbull County woman has become ill with the same salmonella strain linked to peanut butter, the Ohio Department of Health reported.
Christopher Weiss, ODH spokesman, said Friday that seven such cases have been identified in Ohio.
None of the patients has died, he pointed out.
Nearly 300 people in 39 states have fallen ill since August.
Federal health officials strongly suspect that Peter Pan peanut butter and certain batches of Wal-Mart's Great Value house brand -- both manufactured by ConAgra Foods Inc.'s Sylvester, Ga., plant -- are responsible for the outbreak
Dr. James Enyart, Trumbull County health commissioner, said his staff has not linked the woman with the peanut butter brands in question.
"Clearly, she got it from a source or something," Dr. Enyart said.
Cases of salmonella must be reported to public health officials by physicians, Weiss said.
Weiss explained that the Ohio patients have been linked to the same strain of salmonella found in the suspected peanut butter.
Dr. Enyart said his department was notified Jan. 16 that the county woman tested positive for salmonella.
He said the woman had broken her hip in a fall and been hospitalized and in rehabilitation. A culture taken tested positive for salmonella, Dr. Enyart explained.
He noted that he is now waiting instructions from the ODH on what further needs to be done to find the source.
Other sources possible
Weiss said the source of the disease in the patients may not be the peanut butter, noting that won't be determined until further investigation is done by the county health department.
Weiss said that in the end, the seven may not be linked to the national cases. If it's determined that the salmonella came from peanut butter, investigators will try to determine where the food was purchased.
There could be more cases of salmonella. There could also be another source of the disease, both Dr. Enyart and Weiss said.
Dr. Enyart said some who contract the disease may have gotten well without seeing a medical professional.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, interviews comparing foods eaten by ill and well persons show that consumption of Peter Pan peanut butter was statistically associated with illness and therefore the most likely source of the outbreak.
Although the study did not specifically implicate Great Value brand peanut butter, it is manufactured in the same plant as Peter Pan and is believed to be at similar risk of contamination, the CDC said.
Other information
Shoppers are warned that the product code on the lids of the suspected peanut butter containers begin with "2111."
To report concerns about salmonella, call the Mahoning County General Health District at (330) 270-2855; Trumbull County Health Department at (330) 675-2489; or Columbiana County General Health District at (330) 424-0272.
Weiss said that he doesn't know how many telephone queries the state has received concerning the jars but that he has heard local health departments have received quite a few.