This news item expired on Monday, June 18, 2012 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
On Thursday, May 10, Buncombe County Department of Health received final test results from the NC Department of Public Health laboratory confirming that the unopened bag of culture that was added to the tempeh tested positive for the matching strain of Salmonella Paratyphi B linked to the current disease outbreak.
The US Food and Drug Administration is already involved in tracing the origin of the ingredient to identify source of contamination as well as the potential for other Salmonella outbreaks in the US.
As of May 10 at 2 PM, Buncombe County Department of Health reports 58 cases associated with salmonella outbreak. Please keep in mind that this number does not include cases being reported in other counties or states.
NC Department of Public Health reports 63 cases, which includes cases in NC and other states; however there is a slight delay in reporting.
To listen to information, call the HOTLINE: 828.250.5300 (English, Spanish and Russian).
To report symptoms of Salmonella Paratyphi B, call Communicable Disease Nurses: 828.250.5109.