Hamburger processed at a Cargill plant at Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, has
sickened 33 people.
The company has recalled about 29,300 pounds of 85 per cent lean
hamburger over concerns that it might be contaminated with Salmonella
enteriditis.
It’s possible that authorities will be checking records of imports of
cull cattle from Canada as part of their investigation.
Buyers for U.S. packing plants, such as Richard (Butch) Clare of Aylmer
Meat notoriety, buy cull cows for U.S. packers at auction markets, such as the
Ontario Livestock Exchange north of Waterloo.
Dr.
Doug Powell reports on his website, Barfblog, that “although the onset of
illness happened during the week of June 6, 2012, it took six weeks of
sleuthing to link illnesses in five case-patients to the ground beef products
produced at this establishment based on epidemiologic and traceback
investigations, as well as in-store reviews.”
Two of the five
case-patients were hospitalized. Leftover product with no packaging
information collected during the course of this investigation by the Vermont
Department of Health tested positive for Salmonella Enteritidis with the
outbreak strain.
This
outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis is drug sensitive, meaning
antibiotics can be effective in treating patients who need them, Powell wrote.
