Salmonella Is Everywhere / 沙门氏菌无处不在

Just as the US’s explosive diarrhea situation is starting to improve, there seem to be fresh new food risks to worry about. Jalapeño peppers, eggs, granola, and even dog food are being recalled because of possible contamination with salmonella bacteria.

就在美国的爆发性腹泻疫情刚有好转之际，似乎又出现了令人担忧的全新食品风险。由于可能受到沙门氏菌污染，墨西哥辣椒（Jalapeño）、鸡蛋、格兰诺拉麦片（granola），甚至狗粮都在被召回。

A growing outbreak related to contaminated jalapeños is responsible for 431 illnesses in 32 states, with 57 people requiring hospitalization, according to an August 19 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency has identified jalapeños from Sinaloa, Mexico, and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors as the source of the outbreak. The company agreed to recall affected produce, triggering widespread removals of salsa, guacamole, salad dressing, and other jalapeño-containing products across Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Kroger, Target, and other stores. Chipotle and Qdoba also stopped serving the jalapeños in question.

根据美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）8月19日的最新通报，一场与受污染墨西哥辣椒相关的疫情正在蔓延，已导致32个州的431人患病，其中57人需要住院治疗。该机构已确定疫情源头为产自墨西哥锡那罗亚州、由Coast Citrus Distributors公司分销的墨西哥辣椒。该公司已同意召回受影响农产品，导致Trader Joe’s、Whole Foods、Kroger、Target等商店广泛下架了莎莎酱、鳄梨酱、沙拉酱及其他含有墨西哥辣椒的产品。Chipotle和Qdoba也停止供应相关辣椒。

A separate salmonella outbreak linked to eggs has sickened 98 people across 17 states. Of those, 26 have been hospitalized. Health officials have named Midwest Poultry Services as a common egg source but say the company’s eggs did not account for all illnesses in the outbreak and are investigating other sources. The company in July began a voluntary recall of 19 million eggs due to potential contamination. The eggs were produced and distributed from farms in Texas.

另一场与鸡蛋有关的沙门氏菌疫情已导致17个州的98人患病，其中26人住院。卫生官员指出Midwest Poultry Services是主要的鸡蛋来源，但表示该公司的鸡蛋并非导致所有病例的唯一原因，目前正在调查其他来源。该公司已于7月开始自愿召回1900万枚可能受污染的鸡蛋。这些鸡蛋产自德克萨斯州的农场并由此分销。

A type of granola—Lacnola Lactation Granola from Hampton Grocers—is also being recalled due to possible salmonella risk. In that case, the problematic ingredient is organic moringa powder, a nutrient-dense green powder made from the leaves of the South Asian moringa tree. Several salmonella outbreaks linked to imported moringa leaf powder and dietary supplements containing moringa have occurred since last year.

一款名为Lacnola Lactation Granola的格兰诺拉麦片（由Hampton Grocers生产）也因潜在的沙门氏菌风险被召回。此次的问题成分是有机辣木粉，这是一种由南亚辣木树叶制成的营养丰富的绿色粉末。自去年以来，已发生多起与进口辣木叶粉及含辣木膳食补充剂相关的沙门氏菌疫情。

Salmonella is also making its way into dog food. Oma’s Pride is recalling bags of its Woof Complete Canine Chicken Recipe after the FDA received a consumer complaint and subsequently collected and analyzed a sample of the product, which tested positive for salmonella. Three illnesses in dogs have been reported, according to the FDA notice.

沙门氏菌也出现在了狗粮中。在FDA收到消费者投诉并对产品样本进行分析检测出沙门氏菌后，Oma’s Pride公司正在召回其Woof Complete Canine Chicken Recipe系列狗粮。根据FDA的通知，目前已有三起犬只患病报告。

Salmonella symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps and typically occur 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. It can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.

沙门氏菌的症状包括腹泻、发烧和腹部绞痛，通常在食用受污染食物后12至72小时内出现。对于幼儿、老年人和免疫系统较弱的人群，它可能导致严重甚至致命的感染。

Salmonella outbreaks in the summer are fairly common, says Ellen Shumaker, a food safety expert at NC State Extension. People tend to eat more fresh produce in the summer and also dine outside more. “When we see warmer temperatures, that is going to create conditions that are favorable for bacteria like salmonella or parasites like cyclospora to grow,” she says. Food left unrefrigerated for more than two hours can be unsafe to eat.

北卡罗来纳州立大学推广中心的食品安全专家Ellen Shumaker表示，夏季沙门氏菌疫情相当普遍。人们在夏季倾向于食用更多新鲜农产品，且户外就餐频率更高。她说：“气温升高会为沙门氏菌等细菌或圆孢子虫等寄生虫的生长创造有利条件。”食物在室温下放置超过两小时就可能变得不安全。

But how does salmonella get into food in the first place? Unlike cyclospora, which only affects humans, salmonella can infect people and animals.

那么，沙门氏菌最初是如何进入食物的呢？与仅影响人类的圆孢子虫不同，沙门氏菌既能感染人类也能感染动物。

The egg recall involves a strain known as Salmonella enteritidis, which is known to affect poultry. It can colonize in the reproductive tract of laying hens and then be passed to eggs before the shell is formed. Laying hens can be exposed to salmonella through contaminated feed, water, or soil or through contact with infected wildlife or other animals. Humans can also bring the bacteria into laying facilities if it’s on their clothes or shoes.

此次鸡蛋召回涉及一种名为“肠炎沙门氏菌”的菌株，已知该菌株会影响家禽。它可以在蛋鸡的生殖道中定植，并在蛋壳形成前传播到鸡蛋中。蛋鸡可能通过受污染的饲料、水、土壤，或与受感染的野生动物及其他动物接触而感染沙门氏菌。如果人类衣服或鞋子上带有细菌，也可能将其带入养殖设施。

“This specific type of salmonella has long been associated with eggs, and so this is a known issue,” says Jennifer McEntire, a food microbiologist and founder of the consulting firm Food Safety Strategy. The FDA requires egg producers with 3,000 or more laying hens to test for this type of salmonella.

食品微生物学家、咨询公司Food Safety Strategy创始人Jennifer McEntire表示：“这种特定的沙门氏菌长期以来一直与鸡蛋有关，所以这是一个已知的问题。”FDA要求拥有3000只或以上蛋鸡的生产商必须对这种沙门氏菌进行检测。

When it comes to fresh produce, salmonella can be transmitted through contaminated irrigation water, which is also thought to be the most likely vehicle for spreading cyclospora.

对于新鲜农产品而言，沙门氏菌可以通过受污染的灌溉水传播，这也是被认为传播圆孢子虫最可能的途径。

Edward Dudley, a professor of food science at Penn State, says that in produce-growing regions that also have a lot of agriculture, there is always potential for waste from infected farm animals to come into contact with produce. “The closer those two sites come to each other, the greater the chance that you’re going to have salmonella or E. coli from the animals getting into surface waters that are used for irrigation that can eventually be transmitted to the crops,” he says.

宾夕法尼亚州立大学食品科学教授Edward Dudley表示，在同时拥有大量农业活动的农产品种植区，受感染农场动物的排泄物总是有可能接触到农产品。他说：“这两个区域靠得越近，动物身上的沙门氏菌或大肠杆菌进入灌溉用地表水的几率就越大，最终可能传播到农作物上。”

He says people don’t need to be overly concerned about salmonella, especially if they’ve already thrown out the products affected by the recalls, “but certainly, be cautious.” That means washing your hands before handling food, cleaning food-prep and cooking surfaces, refrigerating perishables promptly, cooking foods to a safe internal temperature, and keeping raw meat, eggs, and poultry away from other foods in the kitchen.

他表示，人们不必对沙门氏菌过度担忧，特别是如果已经丢弃了召回产品，“但当然，要保持谨慎。”这意味着在处理食物前洗手、清洁备餐和烹饪台面、及时冷藏易腐食品、将食物烹饪至安全的内部温度，并确保厨房中的生肉、鸡蛋和禽肉与其他食物分开。

“We have a technology right now to completely eliminate salmonella outbreaks, and it’s called cooking,” he says. “But in the United States, we like eating fresh produce.”

“我们现在有一种可以彻底消除沙门氏菌疫情的技术，那就是烹饪，”他说，“但在美国，我们喜欢吃新鲜农产品。”

Indeed, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spent the summer encouraging people to do as much, when not touting a meat-and-ferments diet.

事实上，卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）整个夏天都在鼓励人们多吃新鲜农产品，当然，他也在大力推崇肉类和发酵食品饮食。