Salmonella outbreak from Mexican papayas sickens NJ residents – Asbury Park Press

Public health and regulatory officials in several states, including New Jersey, are investigating an outbreak of salmonella from fresh papayas imported from Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 60 people in eight states, including 12 from New Jersey, have fallen ill this year after catching salmonella. The outbreak has hospitalized 23 people, according to the CDC. No deaths have been reported.

Three Morris County residents are among the reported ill, said Nicole Kirgan, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Health. Two residents in both Hudson and Passaic counties are also included. Cape May, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Sussex all reported at least one illness.

The 62 confirmed cases of Salmonella Uganda between Jan. 14 and June 8 have come primarily since April, according to the CDC. Of the cases, 60 have been reported in the Northeast.

Most of the sick people in this outbreak are adults over 60, according to the CDC.

Salmonella, which lives in the intestinal tracts of animals, can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection, according to the CDC. The illness usually lasts four to seven days and can be overcome without treatment, per the CDC. Still, the illness can lead to death in severe cases without treatment using antibiotics.

A CDC statement said the hospitalization rate for salmonella infections is typically about 20 percent. In this outbreak, the rate is upwards of 60 percen.

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No recall on Mexican papayas has been implemented. Yet, Food and Drug Administration officials said in a statement that the agency is increasing import screening for whole, fresh papayas as it investigates the source of the outbreak.

“Preliminary analysis of product import records indicates that the whole, fresh papayas that made people sick in this outbreak were from Mexico,” the statement read. “As this outbreak investigation continues, the FDA will work with our Mexican food safety regulatory counterparts to better define this outbreak.”

The CDC is advising consumers in New Jersey and surrounding states – Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island – to throw away papayas from Mexico or any papayas of unknown origin. The CDC also advises the region’s consumers to avoid fruit salads or mixes including Mexican papayas and sanitize places where papayas have been stored.

The two reported Salmonella Uganda infections from non-Northeast residents included a patient from Florida who had traveled to Connecticut before becoming ill.

“Another patient from Texas was also reported ill, and at this time additional information about this patient is being collected,” read a statement from the FDA.

Roughly 1.2 million Americans contract Salmonella each year, according to CDC records. About 23,000 of those cases result in hospitalization, while 450 result in death.

In 2017, papayas grown and packed by Carica de Campeche in Mexico were recalled followed a salmonella outbreak that hospitalized 12 New Jersey residents.

At least 26 residents from Middlesex, Passaic, Essex, Bergen, Monmouth, Hudson, Union, Morris, Somerset and Burlington fell ill after encountering the contaminated fruit. Those sick ranged in age from 1 to 92. Fifteen other states were impacted by that outbreak, including Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania.

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