An outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium linked to ground beef that started in early December of 2012 is now thought to have ended in mid-February after sickening a total of 22 people, announced the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday. The 22 illnesses linked to the outbreak occurred in 6 states: Arizona (1 case), Illinois (2 cases), Iowa (1 case), Michigan (9 cases), Pennsylvania (1 case), and Wisconsin (8 cases). Among the 14 outbreak victims for whom information was available, half were hospitalized, according to CDC’s final outbreak report. No deaths were connected to the outbreak. The type of Salmonella Typhimurium that caused this outbreak is uncommon, according to CDC. “This PFGE (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) pattern has rarely been seen before in PulseNet and in the past typically caused 0-1 cases per month,” said the agency in its outbreak report. Ground beef products made by two companies – Jouni Meats and Gab Halal Foods – are considered the likely source of the outbreak, according to CDC. Jouni recalled approximately 500 pounds of product on January 24, 2013, and Gab Halal recalled approximately 550 pounds of its ground beef the following day. CDC urged consumers to check their freezers for the products linked to the outbreak and discard any ground beef subject to either of the recalls. “While the use-by date of the recalled ground beef products has passed, consumers might still have recalled ground beef in their homes if the ground beef was frozen at home.”
