More patients found in outbreak traced to cucumbers; 21 states now involved

Public health officials continue to identify patients in a Salmonella Montevideo outbreak traced to fresh cucumbers, even though the CDC has declared the outbreak over.

As of June 30, there were 69 patients in the outbreak, up from 45 patients reported in the previous update from the Food and Drug Administration. The patients are from 21 states, up from 18 states reported in the May 30 update. Of the 60 sick people for whom complete information is available, 22 have required hospitalization. 

Public health officials have interviewed 35 of the sick people and 29 reported eating cucumbers before becoming ill.

Illnesses began on April 2 and include cruise ship passengers from six different ships. Sick people reported buying and eating cucumbers from a variety of locations including grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals and on the cruise ships. 

There are likely many more outbreak patients than have been identified. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that for every patient identified during a Salmonella outbreak, there are 29 who go undetected. This is because some people do not seek medical treatment and others are not specifically tested for Salmonella infection. 

The outbreak strain of Salmonella was traced to cucumbers from Bedner Growers Inc. of Boynton Beach, FL, and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. of Delray, FL. 

Several companies issued recalls for cucumbers and products containing recalled cucumbers. Recalled products are past shelf-life and should no longer be available for sale in stores, according to the FDA.

As part of the outbreak investigation, the FDA collected a product sample of Bedner Growers Inc. cucumbers from a distribution center in Pennsylvania. Salmonella was detected in the sample of the cucumbers. Whole Genome Sequencing analysis determined that the product sample contained Salmonella Montevideo, which matched the outbreak strain.

Additional analysis of the cucumber sample from the Pennsylvania distribution center found a Salmonella Braenderup strain that matched a strain of Salmonella linked to some illnesses in a 2024 outbreak of Salmonella Africana and Salmonella Braenderup likely in cucumbers grown by Bedner Grower’s Inc.

2024 cucumber Salmonella outbreak
Cucumbers from Bedner Growers Inc. and Thomas Produce Company of Boca Raton, FL, were found to be the source of a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Africana and Salmonella Braenderup infections with 551 illnesses reported from 34 states and the District of Columbia in 2024.

The FDA conducted onsite inspections at Bender Growers Inc. and Thomas Produce Company and collected samples. Salmonella Braenderup was detected in samples of canal water at both farms. 

Whole Genome Sequencing analysis determined that the water used by Thomas Produce Company contained Salmonella that is a match to a strain of Salmonella Braenderup that caused some of the illnesses in the outbreak. Additionally, the water used by Bedner Growers Inc. also contained Salmonella that was a match to a different strain of Salmonella Braenderup that caused some of the illnesses in the 2024 outbreak.

Additional types of Salmonella were detected in both soil and water samples collected at both Bedner Growers Inc. and Thomas Produce Company. Multiple other strains of Salmonella, unrelated to the 2024 outbreak investigation, found at Bedner Growers and Thomas Produce Company, matched clinical isolates from illnesses in the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s database that occurred in 2024 and previous years.

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