Lettuce
blamed for salmonella outbreak, UK
07 Oct
2004
UK - The Health Protection Agency (HPA), together with
colleagues in the NHS and Local Authorities, are blaming
lettuce for a national outbreak of salmonella.
The outbreak involves a strain of the bacteria called
salmonella Newport and over 350 cases have been reported so
far.
Dr Bob Adak, who is leading the investigation for the HPA,
said: "In some of the local investigations the results
suggest that consumption of lettuce from various catering,
fast food and take-away premises are the likely main cause
of the outbreaks."
He added: "The HPA have been working closely with the Food
Standards Agency to look at the supply chain of these salad
products and to see if we can identify where they became
contaminated."
Salmonella Newport has the same symptoms as other strains of
salmonella, including diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.
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