9 states have reported cases of salmonella

ATLANTA --- An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has now been reported in nine states, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

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Lab tests have confirmed illnesses in Texas and New Mexico as the same type of salmonella, right down to the genetic fingerprint. An investigation by Texas and New Mexico health authorities and the Indian Health Service tied those cases to uncooked large tomatoes.

The New Mexico Department of Health said that so far, 39 people from nine counties in New Mexico have become ill from the strain of salmonella, called salmonella Saintpaul. There have been no deaths, but several people have been hospitalized.

The New Mexico patients, who began to become ill on May 6, have come from Bernalillo, Cibola, Curry, Dona Ana, McKinley, Otero, San Juan, Sandoval and Socorro counties.

At least 17 people in Texas and New Mexico have been hospitalized. None have died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An additional 30 people have become sick with the same infection in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Illinois and Indiana. CDC investigators are looking into whether tomatoes were culprits there, too.

In Texas and New Mexico, raw large tomatoes -- including Roma and red round tomatoes -- were found to be a common factor in the illnesses. But no farm, distributor or grocery chain has been identified as the main source, said Casey Barton Behravesh, a CDC epidemiologist working on the investigation.

"The specific type and source of tomatoes is under investigation," she said.

Salmonella is a bacterial infection that lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. The bacteria are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces.