Easy Recipes From The Garden

On Tuesday, an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning first linked to raw tomatoes has now been reported in nine states, according to U.S health officials.

Forty illnesses in Texas and New Mexico were confirmed by lab tests to be the same type of salmonella, right down to the genetic fingerprint. Texas and New Mexico health authorities and the Indian Health Service investigating the outbreak have linked those cases to uncooked, raw, large tomatoes.

Salmonella is a bacterial infection that lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and animals. It is usually transmitted to humans by the consumption of foods contaminated with animal feces. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, which begin around 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness can last for four to seven days, and many people who get it recover without treatment. However, severe infection and even death has been caused by salmonella. Infants, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk for severe infections.

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