Foster Farms-Linked Salmonella Outbreak: Rare Strain Resistant to Antibiotics

Foster Farms chicken is linked to a year-long salmonella outbreak that's sickened over 500 individuals in 25 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The health organization warned that seven rare strains of drug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg continue to be a serious health issue, despite preventative measures.

"Basically, what we're saying is the outbreak is not over," said Dr. Rob Tauxe, the CDC's deputy director of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases, via NBC News. "As the new cases have been reported, almost all of them report eating chicken and almost all say it's Foster Farms."

Though officials initially declared the outbreak that began in March 2013 over in January, new infections hosting rare salmonella strains continued to develop.

Ill individuals range in age from less than 1 year to 93 years, with a median age of 18, according to Food Safety News. Among 437 of the sick individuals with available information, 162 reported being hospitalized and 13 percent reported development of blood infections as a result of the health issue. More male individuals were ill due to the outbreak, at 51 percent.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety, along with Inspection Service officials have not asked Foster Farms to recall any potentially contaminated meat. An NBC spokesman notes that there has yet to be a "definitive link" for a recall.

Consumption of foods that may be contaminated by salmonella can include symptoms such as diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain within the first 12 to 72 hours after digesting the contaminated product. Though most recover without treatment, some may have diarrhea that is so severe, it requires hospitalization.

As no deaths that have been linked to the outbreak were reported at this time, the CDC notes that some ill persons have been resistant to antibiotic combinations, including amphicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, tetracycline and chloramphenicol--which may increase the risk of hospitalizations among infected individuals along with other medical complications.