Cucumber-Linked Salmonella Outbreak Has Sickened at Least 449 People
Cases have occurred in 31 states and the District of Columbia, according to the CDC.
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Cucumbers have been enjoying a moment this summer — and for good reason. As we recently reported, TikToker and YouTuber Logan Moffitt’s shaken-not-stirred cucumber salad tutorial videos have racked up hundreds of millions of views across a variety of social media platforms.
Now, though, cucumbers are also getting attention for a not-so-good reason. And if you are one of those who’ve been trying out Moffitt’s cucumber-forward recipes, you’ll for sure want to take note: A Salmonella outbreak linked to recalled cucumbers has sickened at least 449 people across 31 states and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last week, the CDC posted a notice informing the public that, in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other public health and regulatory agencies, it was investigating “a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Africana and Salmonella Braenderup infections” and collecting data indicating “that cucumbers were contaminated with Salmonella and made people sick.”
“CDC and FDA combined these two outbreak investigations as they shared several similarities, including where and when illnesses occurred, the demographics of ill people and the foods they reported eating before they became sick,” the CDC said.
Of the 449 infected with the two strains of Salmonella as of July 2, 215 people were infected with the Salmonella Braenderup strain, which had just been added to the investigation. The illnesses began to appear between March 11 and June 4, 2024. At least 125 of those sickened have been hospitalized. There have been no reported deaths linked to the outbreak.
The CDC estimates that the actual number of those sickened in the outbreak is probably considerably higher and may stretch across more states than current data indicates. It is likely that more people have been sickened and recovered without seeking medical care. “In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak,” the agency notes.
While the states in which the outbreak has been detected span the country, the greatest number of those sickened, so far, have been located in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida. A significant number of cases also cropped up in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and New Jersey, as well as in Ohio, Kentucky and Massachusetts. Cases have also occurred in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Alabama, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with a handful of cases, too, in Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Delaware, Maine, Vermont, Nevada and Washington.
Public health officials’ interviews with 188 of those sickened found that 129 — or 69 percent — of them said they had eaten cucumbers the week prior to getting sick. The FDA determined that cucumbers from two Florida growers — Bedner Growers, Inc., of Boynton Beach, and Thomas Produce Company, of Boca Raton — are the probable source of the outbreak.
“However,” the CDC cautioned, “these growers do not account for all the illnesses in this outbreak.”
Further, neither of these farms are currently growing and harvesting cucumbers this season.
“There is no product from these farms on the market and likely no ongoing risk to the public,” the CDC reassures.
Salmonella bacteria, most of it foodborne, cause approximately 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths annually in the United States, according to CDC estimates. Most people sickened by Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps, with symptoms generally showing up between six hours and six days after they have been infected. The symptoms last between four and seven days, on average, and most people recover without medical treatment or antibiotics. However, those over age 65 or under 12 months may be at risk of severe illness and hospitalization.
More information about the cucumber-linked Salmonella outbreak can be found here.
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