Eggs contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis sold by a pair of producers may have sickened nearly 1500 US individuals as of late August, according to officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Beginning in May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC’s) PulseNet system, a nationwide surveillance system used to identify outbreaks, noted a 4-fold increase in reports of isolates of S enteritidis from across the country with the same pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern—an occurrence that helps scientists recognize foodborne disease case clusters and aids in early identification of a common source. Investigations by the CDC, local public health authorities, and the FDA traced the potential source of illness to Wright County Egg, in Galt, Iowa, and led to a recall of 380 million eggs sold under numerous brands across the country. Subsequently, Hillandale Farms of New Hamptom, Iowa, recalled an additional 170 million eggs.