Jennie-O Turkey Burgers contain drug-resistant Salmonella strain, CDC reports

Government officials have confirmed that a strain of Salmonella bacteria found in Jennie-O Turkey Burgers is resistant to common forms of antibiotics.

This drug resistance is likely to land more victims of this Salmonella outbreak in the hospital where they’ll likely receive stronger antibiotics to kill the bacteria.

Jennie-O Turkey Store has recalled 55,000 pounds of a Turkey Burger product it distributes nationwide. At least 12 people in 10 states have been confirmed as victims in the outbreak.

According to an MSNBC.com report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that treatments using common antibiotics ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, cephalothin and tetracycline were ineffective at killing the strain of Salmonella Hadar bacteria contaminating the turkey burgers.
So far, 3 of the 12 people infected with this strain of Salmonella bacteria have been hospitalized. The outbreak has been confirmed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. The last case was confirmed on March 24.

The recall includes Jennie-O Turkey Store All Natural Turkey Burgers with seasonings Lean White Meat. Each box of the recalled burgers contains a dozen 1/3-pound wrapped burgers. These burgers have a Use By date of Dec. 23, 2011.

Early symptoms of Salmonella poisoning include fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. If unchecked or untreated, these symptoms can escalate in severity and may require hospitalization as it has for one-in-four victims of this outbreak.