Salmonella Outbreak Drives Egg Recall

A national outbreak of salmonella in eggs that has sickened hundreds of people since May has been tracked to an Iowa producer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the outbreak has been traced to in-shell eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, which on Aug. 13 launched a recall of some 228 million eggs, according to USA Today.

The eggs were sold nationwide under multiple brand names, including Lucerne, Albertson’s, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

The recall covers eggs packed between May 16 and Aug. 13, in cartons ranging from six to 18 eggs. The type of salmonella causing the outbreak, salmonella enteritidis, is the most common form. The normal weekly level of laboratory-confirmed cases nationally for this specific type is about 50; when that hit 200 in June, public health workers realized they had a problem, Casey Barton Behravesh, CDC veterinary epidemiologist, told USA Today.

CDC is not reporting deaths or hospitalizations in the outbreak because it’s difficult to determine if they are directly related to eggs from Wright County Egg, Behravesh said. The Food and Drug Administration has teams on site at Wright County Egg, the FDA told USA Today.