A total of 34 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- were reported from 10 states. The true number of sick people in this outbreak was likely much higher than the number reported, and this outbreak may not have been limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from September 18, 2021, to October 30, 2021. Sick people ranged in age from 1 to 75 years, with a median age of 8. Most of the sick people (79%) were younger than 18, and 58% were female. Of 27 people with information available, 7 were hospitalized. No deaths were reported.
State and local public health officials interviewed people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick. Among 27 people interviewed, 26 (96%) reported eating salami sticks and 25 (93%) reported eating or maybe eating Citterio brand Premium Italian-Style Salame Sticks.
California officials found Salmonella in two unopened packages of Citterio brand Premium Italian-Style Salame Sticks that they collected for testing. WGS identified in these products a different strain of Salmonella (Salmonella Derby) that was not closely related to samples from sick people. PulseNet did not find any illnesses caused by this strain of Salmonella Derby.
WGS analysis of bacteria from 28 people’s samples, two salami stick samples, and one raw ground pork sample predicted resistance to one or more of the following antibiotics: ampicillin, fosfomycin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline. Standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory is currently underway. Most people with Salmonella illness recover without antibiotics. However, if antibiotics were needed, this resistance was unlikely to affect the choice of antibiotic used to treat most people.
On November 10, 2021, Euro Foods recalled approximately 119,091 pounds of Citterio brand Premium Italian-Style Salame Sticks products.