Libby businesses holding back on tomatoes

An outbreak of salmonella Saintpaul, a rare form of bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12–72 hours after infection, has some restaurants and stores in Libby pulling tomatoes from their stock.

The outbreak has not been reported in Lincoln County, according to Amy Smart, public health emergency preparedness coordinator and infectious disease nurse.

The disease is being caused by large tomatoes, including Roma and round red tomatoes, that are infected with the bacteria. Rosauers, Subway and McDonalds have quit giving tomatoes to customers until the outbreak is under control.

Rosauers has a pipeline into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which will report when it is safe to continue serving all forms of tomatoes.

The Centers for Disease Control is currently doing an epidemiological investigation to track down the origin of the outbreak. Approximately, 167 persons have been infected since mid-April, in states all over the country. No cases have been reported in Montana.

For more information on the disease, visit CDC’s Web site, http://cdc.gov/salmonella .