Drug-Resistant Salmonella Superbug is Spreading Across the World

A potentially deadly drug-resistant form of salmonella is spreading across the world and has already contaminated hundreds of individuals in USA, scientists have warned.

The S. Kentucky “superbug” variant of salmonella micro organism seems to have developed as a result of the usage of antibiotics in chicken and turkey farming, rendering it untreatable by those same drugs once it has infected humans.

Symptoms of salmonellosis, the common food poisoning illness that arises from an infection by the bacteria normally involve nothing more severe than diarrhea or vomiting. However it could actually present much more critical problems for the elderly or those with weakened immune systems.

Consumers recently on the lookout for answers about a salmonella outbreak linked to ground turkey will have to continue to wait as the government investigates the source of at least 76 sicknesses and one death.

The Agriculture Department and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they are still looking for a source of the outbreak, which dates back to March 2011. The Minnesota-based meat firm, Cargill, said Tuesday that it has been contacted by the USDA as part of the investigation and is working with the department. Cargill has not been named as the culprit.

The lack of information so far from authority’s officials could also be attributed to USDA rules that make it tougher to investigate and recall salmonella-tainted poultry. As a result of salmonella is common in poultry, it’s not illegal for meat to be tainted with the pathogen. Officials should directly link the salmonella diseases with a certain producer or establishment|, which is troublesome to do because people don’t at all times remember what they ate or where| they purchased it.

On this case, it seems that officials have not been able to prove the link between the samples of salmonella they found – despite the fact that they are the same strain – and the 77 people who| have been sickened. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service sent out an alert concerning the illnesses late last week telling consumers to correctly cook their turkey, which can lower the possibilities of salmonella poisoning. However the department has not given consumers any further warnings about the source of the contaminated meat.

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