A church in Shelby is the focus of an investigation by state and county health officials searching for the cause of an outbreak of salmonella. The outbreak was first reported following the annual fund-raising barbecue at Sandy Plains Baptist Church on New House Road last Saturday. Cleveland County and North Carolina health officials said nine people were sickened following the barbecue and five of those cases were serious enough to require hospitalization. "We certainly hate to hear that anybody got sick,” said Pastor Garin Hall. He said as many as 5,000 people attended the barbecue. Investigators have not said if they have identified the exact cause of the outbreak. Pastor Hall said the church has always taken a lot of care in the way the food is prepared. "We have cookers that keep meat hot all the time and so we take a lot of pride in the way that we do it and try to do it well," said the pastor. Food most likely to contain salmonella include raw or under-cooked eggs, raw milk, contaminated water and raw or under-cooked meats. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says salmonella is the second most common intestinal infection in the United States. Health officials have not released the names of any of those who got sick. Biohazard name: Salmonella Biohazard level: 2/4 Medium Biohazard desc.: Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. "Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures", see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 03:07:35 +0000
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