Salmonella Berta infections among children, adolescents and adults in King County

Highlights, posted July 10, 2023

Summary

Public Health is investigating an outbreak of six people infected with Salmonella Berta, a specific type of Salmonella. All six cases are linked through genetic fingerprinting (whole genome sequencing) which indicates they likely have a common source of infection. These cases were reported from April 14, 2023, to June 12, 2023. Most people who were interviewed reported eating pork (e.g., a variety of pork cuts cooked at home) and different types of seafood (e.g., fish and crab) but no source has been identified. The investigation is ongoing.

Illnesses

Since April 14, 2023, six people from six separate households reported becoming sick. The people who became sick ranged in age from 2 to 65 years old. All the people developed one or more symptoms consistent with salmonellosis, including nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, bloody stool, fever, and chills. Their illnesses onset between April 12, 2023, and June 5, 2023.

Public Health actions

Public Health conducted interviews with the people sick with salmonellosis to identify potential common exposures and identified that some common exposures were pork and seafood. Environmental Health Investigators began traceback of meat products on June 21, 2023. They collected invoices from different places where some people got food and conducted inspections. A common location or source has not been identified.

Laboratory testing

All six cases had confirmatory testing for Salmonella and had the same strain of Salmonella Berta based on genetic fingerprinting (whole genome sequencing or WGS) at the Washington State Public Health Laboratory.