- An outbreak of Salmonella Reading linked to raw turkey that began in November 2017 continues to sicken Americans in 35 states. Raw turkey pieces, ground turkey, whole turkey, and turkey pet food have been linked to illnesses in humans.
- A total of 164 people have been infected, 47% of whom have been hospitalized. There has been one fatality in California. The CDC reports that 68 isolates from ill people and 84 isolates from food contained genes for resistance to all or some of 10 listed types of antibiotics but notes that “most of the infections in this outbreak are susceptible to the antibiotics that are commonly used for treatment, so this resistance will not affect the choice of antibiotic resistance used to treat most people.”
- The Center for Science in the Public Interest has criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture for not identifying the 22 slaughter and 7 processing establishments where Salmonella Reading has been detected and determined to be “closely related genetically to the strains isolated from ill people.” While FDA recently took steps to increase transparency and provide consumers will more “actionable information” in food recall situations, USDA has not yet expressed an interest in increasing transparency during food recalls.