Salmonella and thanksgiving turkey.

Human salmonella infections linked to live poultry. Salmonella is estimated to cause millions of foodborne illnesses around the world with over 30,000 hospitalizations and several deaths. Most persons infected with Salmonella have diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most individuals recover without treatment. In some cases, diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites. In these cases, Salmonella can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness. Salmonella infections have trailed this year's thanksgiving as the bacteria reportedly survived cooking turkeys served for dinner.At least 33 customers of an American restaurant were sickened from the turkey served as part of a Thanksgiving dinner.Another 19 illnesses were reported after Thanksgiving with Salmonella suspected as the cause of the illnesses. At least 9 clusters of customers are involved. The sickened developed symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea within about six to 69 hours. The foods eaten included imported American turkeys, vegetables, apple pie and pumpkin pie.continue