Salmonella poisoning cases include Atlanta-area child

ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta child is among 57 people sickened in an 18-state outbreak of a rare form of salmonella poisoning, state and federal health officials said Thursday.

The child has recovered from the food-borne illness that can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps and, in more severe cases, even death, said Belen Moran, spokeswoman for the Georgia Division of Public Health.

No one has died from the outbreak that scientists have linked to the food Veggie Booty, a snack of puffed rice and corn with a vegetable coating. The manufacturer, Robert's American Gourmet of New York, has issued a national recall to clear store shelves. People who have the snack should throw it away.

On its Web site, the company said its preliminary independent test results indicate the likely cause of the contamination was the product's seasoning, the sources of which come primarily from China.

The great majority of people sickened from the contaminated snacks were children under age 10, with the most cases in toddlers, said the Food and Drug Administration. Most people reported bloody diarrhea, and five were hospitalized, officials said.

State health officials declined to identify the youngster, whose infection was detected through a stool sample requested by a doctor. The doctor then notified the state public health agency on May 4, which notified the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC officials said the outbreak began appearing in March and officials spent weeks interviewing parents of ill children before linking it to Veggie Booty, which is distributed in all 50 states. Minnesota health officials also isolated the strain, Salmonella wandsworth, from a sealed bag of Veggie Booty obtained from a store.

On Monday, the company expanded the recall to include Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks. This food shares ingredients with Veggie Booty and also may be contaminated. The CDC said it is not aware of any human illnesses associated with the consumption of Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks.

The other states involved in the outbreak are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

The FDA this week began an investigation into the source of contamination at the manufacturing plant. Results from samples are expected next week, FDA spokesman Michael Herndon said.

The recent spate of illness marked the first outbreak of Salmonella wandsworth in the United States, said CDC epidemiologist Mark Sotir. The last reported outbreak was about 30 years ago in Hong Kong.

Salmonella illness remains a major public health problem in the United States with an estimated 1.4 million cases occurring annually, with 15,000 hospitalizations and 400 deaths, CDC officials said.

In an unrelated CDC report released Thursday, the agency addressed more common forms of salmonella transmitted by reptiles. It warned that small turtles remain a source of salmonella poisoning, despite a 1975 federal law banning their sale or distribution.

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report pointed to several cases of turtle-related salmonella from October 2006 through late April, including the death in February of an infant girl in Florida.

Craig Schneider writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: cschneider AT ajc.com