America's Center - St. Louis
Sharon Seelman, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Alvin Crosby, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Johnson Nsubuga, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
LT Lauren Shade, U.S. Food and Drug Administration/U.S. Public Health Service, College Park, MD
Adiam Tesfai, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, College Park, MD
Megan Aldridge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Tyann Blessington, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Michael Mahovic, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Kruti Ravaliya, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Crystal McKenna, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Robert Hatch, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Herminio Francisco, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Irvine, CA
Heidi DeBeck, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Minneapolis, MN
Kathryn Nagy, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Atlanta, GA
Mark Laughlin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Lyndsay Bottichio, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ IHRC Inc, Atlanta, GA
LCDR Laura Gieraltowski, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-U.S. Public Health Service, Atlanta, GA
Patrick Kennelly, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, CA
Michael Needham, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, CA
Alida Sorenson, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, St. Paul, MN
Carrie Rigdon, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, St. Paul, MN
Amy Saupe, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN
LTC Michael Hansen, U.S. Department of Defense, Aberdeen, MD
MAJ Kellie Triplett, U.S. Department of Defense, Aberdeen, MD
CW3 Jacqueline Telesford, U.S. Department of Defense, Aberdeen, MD
Stelios Viazis, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD
Introduction: On August 18, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was notified, through PulseNet, of 32 people infected with
Salmonella Poona of an indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern in 13 states. Cucumbers were identified as the suspected food vehicle. As of January 4, 2015, 884 people infected with the outbreak strain of
Salmonella Poona have been reported from 39 states, with 189 hospitalizations and four deaths.
Purpose: State, local, and federal government agencies responded quickly to determine the source of Salmonella Poona associated with cucumbers.
Methods: Through collaboration with the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Defense, and state investigational partners, FDA identified six sub-clusters of cases. Federal and state partners collected documents and cucumber samples throughout the supply chain. Whole genome sequencing analysis was conducted on Salmonella Poona isolates obtained from clinical cases and suspected cucumbers.
Results: Traceback lead to a common distributer for all six sub-clusters of cases. On September 4, 2015, Distributer A of San Diego, California issued a voluntary recall of all cucumbers supplied to the United States from August 1, 2015 through September 3, 2015, after being presented with information by California Department of Public Health, FDA and CDC. Twenty-three of the cucumber samples sourced from Grower A of Baja California, Mexico, yielded Salmonella Poona isolates matching the outbreak strain. Whole genome sequencing analysis suggested a common source of contamination. FDA placed Grower A on two separate Import Alerts to prevent future shipments of the firm’s cucumbers from entering the United States.
Significance: The collaborative efforts of federal, state, and local partners, led to the identification of the source of the outbreak, isolation of the outbreak strain from cucumber samples, a voluntary recall by the distributer, and prevention of further shipments of suspect cucumbers from entering the United States.
