Outbreak Summary

Introduction

CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationExternal (FDA) investigated a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Braenderup infections.

Public health investigators used the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that were part of this outbreak. PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC. DNA fingerprinting is performed on Salmonella bacteria isolated from ill people by using techniques called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). CDC PulseNet manages a national database of these DNA fingerprints to identify possible outbreaks. WGS gives a more detailed DNA fingerprint than PFGE.

As of June 13, 2018, 45 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Braenderup were reported from 10 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Case Count Map page.

Illnesses started on dates ranging from November 16, 2017 to May 13, 2018. Ill people ranged in age from 1 to 90, with a median age of 60. Fifty-six percent were female. Eleven people were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported.

Testing of 3 clinical isolates using standard antibiotic susceptibility testing methods by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory did not show any resistance. Whole genome sequencing of 27 clinical and 7 environmental isolates also did not predict resistance to antibiotics on the NARMS panel.

Investigation of the Outbreak

Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback evidence indicated that shell eggs produced by Rose Acre Farms’ Hyde County, North Carolina farm were the likely source of this multistate outbreak.

In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Thirty (83%) of 36 people interviewed reported eating shell eggs. Nineteen (53%) reported eating various egg dishes at different restaurants. This latter percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey Cdc-pdf [PDF – 787 KB] of healthy people in which 38% of respondents reported eating any eggs away from home in the week before they were interviewed. These restaurants reported using shell eggs in the dishes eaten by ill people.

FDA traced the source of some of the shell eggs supplied to these restaurant locations to Rose Acre Farms’ Hyde County, North Carolina farm. FDA investigators inspected the farm and collected samples for testing. Laboratory testing identified the outbreak strain of Salmonella Braenderup in environmental samples taken at the farm.

On April 13, 2018, Rose Acre Farms of Seymour, Indiana, voluntarily recalledExternal 206,749,248 shell eggs because they could have been contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. Recalled eggs were sold in grocery stores and to restaurants in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia under multiple brand names, including Coburn Farms, Country Daybreak, Crystal Farms, Food Lion, Glenview, Great Value, Nelms, and Sunshine Farms. On April 16, 2018, Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. voluntarily recalled 23,400 dozen eggs purchased from Rose Acre Farms.

As of June 14, 2018, this outbreak appears to be over.