The Center for Disease Control issued an outbreak warning Thursday for a disease from the bacteria salmonella typhimurium, with some states reporting more than 50 cases in the last three months.
Doug McBride, press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said five cases of salmonella have been reported in Texas - discovered in Harris, Galveston, Tarrant, Travis and Willacy counties - and the department is trying to find a common denominator to determine the source of the outbreak.
California had 55 reported cases and Ohio had 53 reported cases, with 40 other states ranging from one reported case to 39 reported cases, according to the Center for Disease Control Web site. Almost 400 cases nationally were reported as of Friday, 18 percent of which required hospitalization.
The department is working with the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find the source, although they could not find any connection in Texas, McBride said.
The five cases were reported between October and November, he said, and the most recent national case was reported Dec. 29. However, more reports could surface when the word of an outbreak reaches the public.
While the bacteria was not found to be directly related to the outbreak, the Minnesota Department of Health issued an advisory after finding salmonella in a container of King Nut peanut butter. According to a news release by the department, the initial testing did not show a connection to the national outbreak, but the "genetic fingerprint" of the disease in Minnesota was the same as the other cases nation-wide. Additional testing results will be released next week.
Salmonella generally is a food-borne bacteria, he said, and normally does not spreading from person to person.
People infected with salmonella show symptoms between 12 and 72 hours after infection, according to a news release by the CDC, including diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Illness from the salmonella bacteria lasts about four to seven days.
In a severe infection, salmonella could spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and to other parts of the body if not treated by antibiotics. This type of spreading of the disease can cause death.
Judy Davis, communicable disease investigator for the City of Lubbock Health Department, said cases of salmonella that have been analyzed in Lubbock were not the same type as the salmonella listed in the outbreak.
"We closely monitor any cases that come in," she said. "I don't think we have anything right now."
Two cases of salmonella still were being analyzed Friday in Austin. Because Lubbock does not have the equipment to analyze the bacteria, the sample must be sent to Austin and analyzed there. The process takes about two to three weeks.
The department mainly is in charge of monitoring the trends in the city and reporting them to the state department, Davis said.
One of the best ways to avoid catching the salmonella bacteria is for a person to regularly wash their hands and use sanitizer, as well as make sure meats are cooked thoroughly, she said, especially microwavable chicken products.
The city health department was not notified Friday of the other five Texas cases.
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