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CDC investigating multi-state salmonella outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trying to find out what has caused more than 127 people to get sick after being infected by a strain of salmonella.

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The CDC said people showed signs of the illness from Aug. 3 through Sept. 1.

On Sept. 2, the agency said there had been 20 infections from the salmonella oranienburg strain. That number has increased to 127 people across 27 states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Massachusetts. Most cases, however, were found in Texas, according to the CDC.

Ages range from less than a year old to 82 years old with a median age of 33. Most of those ill, at 59%, were women. There have been no deaths and 18 people have had to be hospitalized, out of the 49 people the CDC has more specific information on.

Health officials on the state and local levels are asking those who became ill to recall what food they ate the week before, but they have not singled out a specific food. There have been some groups, called “subclusters” at restaurants in some states. A subcluster refers to people who do not know each other but ate at the same restaurant and got sick.

CDC officials said the number of those sick could increase because it takes three to four weeks to determine if a person who became ill was part of a salmonella outbreak. Released counts may also not be as high as actual cases because many recover without medical care and are not tested for salmonella, the CDC said.