Background
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and state and local officials to investigate a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Infantis infections. A total of 14 individuals infected with the outbreak strain have been reported from nine states. For complete details on the cases, go to CDC’s Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Infantis Infections Linked to Dry Dog Food web site.
FDA became involved in early April when the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported detecting Salmonella from an intact package of Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice Formula for Adult Dogs, collected during retail surveillance sampling. Diamond Pet Food was notified of the sampling results, and agreed to voluntarily recall this product on April 6, 2012. See Firm Recall Press Release: Diamond Pet Foods Voluntarily Recalls Limited Number of Dry Dog Food Bags Due to a Potential Health Risk for more information. At that time, there were no known dog illnesses reported.
An additional finding of Salmonella in a sample taken by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, from an opened bag of Diamond Brand Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul Adult Light Formula dry dog food collected from the home of an ill person, and an unopened bag of the product collected from a retail store led to a recall of that product on April 26, 2012. See Firm Recall Press Release: Diamond Pet Foods Expands Voluntary Recall of One Production Run of Dry Dog Food Due to a Potential Health Risk for more information.
A sample of Diamond Puppy Formula dry dog food collected by FDA during an inspection at the South Carolina production facility also yielded Salmonella Infantis, which led to a recall of that product on April 30, 2012. See Firm Recall Press Release: Diamond Pet Foods Expands Voluntary Recall to Include Diamond Puppy Formula due to Possible Salmonella Contamination for more information.
Public health officials used DNA “fingerprints” of Salmonella bacteria obtained through diagnostic testing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE, to investigate cases of human illness. CDC reports that this outbreak strain (Infantis) is rare, and typically only 0 to 3 cases are reported per month to PulseNet.
Through interviews by state public health officials, FDA’s review of consumer complaints, and from a comparison of pet products from human exposure, some brands of dry pet food produced by Diamond Pets Foods at a single manufacturing facility in South Carolina have now been linked to human Salmonella infections.
FDA, CDC, and state investigations are ongoing in an effort to determine if other brands of dry dog food produced at the South Carolina facility may be linked to confirmed human illnesses. FDA will provide updates on the investigation as new information becomes available.
Read more on the FDA web site.
