The 28 counties having Subway restaurants associated with confirmed Salmonella illnesses are Bureau, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Coles, Dekalb, DeWitt, Fulton, Henry, Kane, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Macon, Marshall, McLean, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Rock Island, Sangamon, Schuyler, Shelby, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, Will and Winnebago. Illnesses are reported to have started between May 14 and May 25 and cases range in age from six-years to 79-years-old.
The CDC estimates that for every confirmed case of Salmonella infection, another 38.6 cases go unreported. In order for a case to be confirmed, a sick person has to visit their health care practitioner and get a stool test. A positive result is then sent on to the health department, which matches the test to the outbreak strain to see if it is part of the outbreak, or a separate case of Salmonella. Many people try to "tough it out", and don't get tested, therefore there cases are never counted. The current outbreak of Salmonella Hvittingfoss probably has more than 3000 people sick.
Although there has been no positive or confirmed association with a specific product, Subway has voluntarily withdrawn all lettuce, green peppers, red onion and tomatoes, from the suspected dates from its restaurants and has replaced the product with new, fresh produce.
On June 21, Marler Clark filed a Salmonella lawsuit on behalf of a victim of the outbreak, a resident of Will County.
Salmonella illnesses can be very dangerous to the young, the elderly, and the immune compromised. For more information, visit www.about-salmonella.com, or contact us.