Salmonella from cucumbers sickens hundreds; 60 in Florida. CDC says outbreak is over

Your cucumbers are safe again.

According to health officials, the multistate salmonella outbreak — partially tracked to cucumbers from two Florida farms — that sickened 551 people in 34 states and the District of Columbia, including 60 in Florida, is over.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that cucumbers from the identified sources were no longer in season and products were no longer on shelves.

Florida farms named as salmonella sources

In June, Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. of Delray voluntarily recalled cucumbers shipped in bulk cartons directly to retail distribution centers, wholesalers, and food service distributors in 14 states from May 17th through May 21, 2024, after the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture found that a cucumber sample tested positive for Salmonella africana .

Investigations found multiple strains of salmonella in samples of both soil and water tested at Bedner Growers, Inc., of Boynton Beach, Florida , the FDA said.

Several points of service where ill people reported eating cucumbers led the multistate investigation by the FDA and the CDC to Thomas Produce Company of Boca Raton, the FDA said in August , where Salmonella Braenderup matching the outbreak was detected in samples of canal water.

The two Florida farms do not account for all the cases, the CDC said, but there is little chance for continued exposure.

There have been no deaths reported, the CDC said, but 155 people have been hospitalized. As of Aug. 22, 60 people in Florida have reported salmonella infections connected to the outbreak.

Initially, the agencies and local partners were treating the outbreak as two separate outbreaks of Salmonella Africana and Salmonella Braenderup, but the CDC and FDA combined them into one due to similarities in demographics and the foods ill people said they ate before they became sick.

Boynton Beach farm may have contributed to previous outbreaks

Bedner's also may have been a source for other outbreaks, the FDA said.

"Multiple other strains of Salmonella, unrelated to this outbreak investigation, found at Bedner Growers, Inc. matched clinical isolates from illnesses in the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s (NCBI) database that occurred in previous years," the FDA said.

The FDA and CDC are investigating samples from the farm to see if they match previous outbreaks.

Where were people infected with salmonella?

According to the CDC, the people infected in the salmonella outbreak as of Aug. 22 are in:

• Alabama: 6
• Arkansas: 1
• California: 1
• Connecticut: 8
• Delaware: 3
• District of Columbia: 1
• Florida: 60
• Georgia: 48
• Illinois: 9
• Indiana: 4
• Iowa: 5
• Kentucky: 20
• Maine: 10
• Maryland: 17
• Massachusetts: 11
• Michigan: 12
• Minnesota: 10
• Missouri: 4
• New Jersey: 22
• Nevada: 1
• New York: 69
• North Carolina: 27
• Ohio: 20
• Oklahoma: 2
• Pennsylvania: 68
• Rhode Island: 8
• South Carolina: 22
• Tennessee: 22
• Texas: 2
• Vermont: 2
• Virginia: 48
• Washington: 1
• West Virginia: 7
• Wisconsin: 4

"This outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses, and the true number of sick people is likely much higher than the number reported," the CDC said. "This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for salmonella."

What is salmonella?

"Salmonella are bacteria that make people sick," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its fact page.

Salmonella can make people ill with diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps which can last from four days up to a week. Symptoms usually begin six hours to six days after infection, the CDC said. Most cases of Salmonella infections pass, but some people may need to be hospitalized.

Salmonella bacteria cause "about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year," the CDC said. "Food is the source for most of these illnesses."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Salmonella from cucumbers sickens hundreds; 60 in Florida. CDC says outbreak is over