USDA issues alert after 77 become ill from ground turkey

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

A public health alert has gone out from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture due to ground turkey from an unnamed producer that has been implicated in an estimated 77 illnesses in 26 states. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service issued the alert Friday night because of concerns about illnesses caused by a salmonella type called salmonella Heidelberg.

The agency acted because of "continuous medical reports, ongoing investigations and testing conducted by various departments of health across the nation" that found an association between people eating ground turkey products and the illnesses.

The investigation is being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments, USDA says.

So far neither USDA nor CDC have been able to determine the producer of the ground turkey that has been causing the illnesses, but the investigation continues.

Food contaminated with salmonella can cause salmonellosis. Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within eight to 72 hours of eating the tainted food, in addition to chills, headache, nausea and vomiting that can last up to seven days. In the very young, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, salmonella can be life-threatening.

The agency called for consumers to be aware "of the critical importance of following package cooking instructions for frozen or fresh ground turkey products," and to always allow ground turkey to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

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