Dozens sickened in 7 states by salmonella-tainted ground beef

GlobalPost

Ground beef linked to nearly 30,000 pounds of salmonella-tainted hamburger has sickened dozens of people in at least seven states.

An estimated 33 people have fallen ill — 11 of them hospitalized —  from the beef produced by Cargill Meat Solutions of Wyalusing, Pa., officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told NBC News.

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The 85 percent lean ground beef was packaged on May 25 and sold to Hannaford Supermarkets and other grocery chains.

Confirmed illnesses reported since early June include 14 people in New York, 10 in Vermont, three in Massachusetts, two in Virginia and New Hampshire and one in Maine, the US Department of Agriculture said in a statement.

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"Food borne illnesses are unfortunate and we are sorry for anyone who became sick from eating ground beef we may have produced," Cargill President John Keating told The Associated Press.

The strain of salmonella has been linked to eggs and chicken in the past, but never forced a beef recall until now, the Christian Science Monitor reported.

The source of the salmonella is still unknown, although Cargill officials believe it arrived at the Pennsylvania facility in one or more animals.

Additional information is available at the Department of Agriculture recall website.

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