Rare form of salmonella struck Navajos in New Mexico
Friday, June 20, 2008
Filed Under:
Health
A rare and virulent form of salmonella sickened more than 20 members of the
Navajo Nation who live in New Mexico, officials said.
Five cases of Saintpaul poisoning showed up the Northern Navajo Medical Clinic in Shiprock before Memorial Day. That raised alarms among the
Indian Health Service and the
New Mexico Department of
Health.
Officials eventually concluded that tomatoes caused the outbreak. But no one has been able to pinpoint the exact source.
"I'm not sure we're ever going to know why such a high proportion of cases come from the Navajo reservation," Paul Ettestad, the state's epidemiologist, told The Albuquerque Journal.
The outbreak eventually spread to more than a dozen states.
Get the Story:
Tomato Link Found in N.M.
(The Albuquerque Journal 6/20)
Related Stories:
Store near Navajo Nation may
have sold tomatoes (6/5)
IHS links
salmonella outbreak to uncooked tomatoes (6/4)
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