Illinois health officials warn about salmonella outbreak

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is working with local health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium linked to BrightFarms brand Sunny Crunch salad produced in Rochelle in upstate Illinois.

According to the CDC, eight people report infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium from two states.  The timeline of the illnesses ranges from June 10 to June 15.  In Illinois, five cases matching the outbreak strain have come from Cook, DuPage, and McHenry counties.

Illinois cases have reported purchasing BrightFarms brand Sunny Crunch salad produced in Rochelle, IL in the north-eastern part of the state.  However, IDPH is working with federal officials to determine the distribution routes for the Sunny Crunch salad in Illinois. That would be to determine what other exposure there could be across the state.

Samonella symptoms and treatment

Symptoms of illness caused by Salmonella may include headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, chills, fever, nausea, and dehydration.  If you experience these symptoms 12 to 72 hours after eating BrightFarms brand Sunny Crunch salad produced in Rochelle, contact a health care provider and let them know you have recently eaten Sunny Crunch salad.

Action items if you own Sunny Crunch salad

Anyone that has bought BrightFarms brand Sunny Crunch salad should not eat it and should throw it away. It does not matter even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick. Surfaces and containers that were potentially touching the contaminated products should be washed using hot and soapy water.

IDPH is working with local health departments to identify additional cases and to perform laboratory testing.  Investigators are working to determine if additional products with potential contamination.

For more information and updates, go to cdc.gov/salmonella/typhimurium-07-21/index.html.

An update to this story with additional details on the outbreak is available here.

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