WV Health Officials Investigating Salmonella Outbreak: 41 Cases, 5 Hospitalized, Source Still Unknown

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State health officials are keeping a close eye on a Salmonella outbreak here at home, and they want West Virginians and their doctors to know about it.

The West Virginia Department of Health has issued a health advisory about an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium. Since early September, 41 cases have been reported across the state. Five of those patients have been hospitalized.

Who's been getting sick

According to the Department of Health, the people who have fallen ill range in age from 3 to 54. That's a wide stretch, from young kids all the way up to middle-aged adults, which is part of what makes this one tricky to pin down.

Investigators are still working through where people may have been exposed, and so far no common source has been identified. No cases outside West Virginia have been linked to this outbreak, which health officials say points to a localized event right here in the Mountain State.

How Salmonella spreads

Salmonella Typhimurium is one of the most commonly reported types of Salmonella in the United States. The Department of Health notes that people usually pick it up by eating or drinking contaminated food or water, or through contact with infected animals and the places they live.

Most folks recover without needing antibiotics. But health officials caution that the infection can turn serious, spreading into the bloodstream, for young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.

What the state is asking doctors to do

The advisory went out to health care providers, hospitals, and laboratories with a clear set of asks:

• Consider Salmonella when patients come in with sudden diarrhea.
• Order stool testing for suspected cases, and collect samples before starting antibiotics when possible.
• If a rapid test comes back positive for Salmonella, order a stool culture or make sure the lab will run one.
• Use lab susceptibility results to guide antibiotic treatment when it's needed.
• Report cases to the local health department in the patient's home county within 72 hours.

Those lab cultures matter. They're how investigators connect the dots between cases and, hopefully, track down where this is coming from.

What it means for your family

If you or someone in your household has repeated bouts of diarrhea, especially a little one, an older relative, or anyone with health problems, it's worth calling your doctor rather than toughing it out. Getting tested helps you, and it helps the folks working to stop this outbreak.

The everyday basics still go a long way, too: wash your hands well after using the bathroom, before cooking, and after handling animals or cleaning up after them, and keep raw meat and eggs away from food that won't be cooked.

The investigation is ongoing. West Virginia Pulse will keep following this story and share any update on a source as soon as health officials announce one.