Salmonella outbreak in the US, in Mexican onions from Chihuahua, Baja is safe: Sanitary Risk Prevention

ALFREDO AZCARATE VARELA
THE BAJA POST/EDITOR

Salmonella was detected in the United States, in onions from Chihuahua, a Mexican northern state, in its white, purple and yellow varieties, so Baja California State Commission for Sanitary Risks Prevention (COEPRIS in Spanish) is working with other government agencies to keep the bacteria out of the state, said Marco Aurelio Gamez Servin, State Commissioner.

Gámez Servín said that, fortunately, there are no Salmonella cases related to Chihuahua onions in Baja California but they will keep working and verifying onions that are sold in Mexicali, the Epidemiology Unit of the state Health Department reported the problem to the COEPRIS, the moment the Center for Disease Control informed them about it.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) detected a multi-state Salmonella outbreak, which (according to a COEPRIS press release) began on September 2 and has been spreading fast, so far there have been 652 confirmed cases, 129 people in the hospital but luckily, there haven´t been any casualties.

Among the States reported by the CDC, having a Salmonella problem are: Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, Maryland e Illinois, said Gamez and added that he is working in coordination with State and Federal agriculture agencies (SADER & SEDAGRO) to assess the situation and take action.

He remarked that, so far, there have been no Salmonella cases in Baja California and possibilities for that to happen are very few, since these onions are exportation goods, nevertheless he advised people to double check for precedence when buying onions in order to avoid illness and infection risk.

Insistió en que, hasta el momento, no existe ningún caso en la entidad y es muy remota la posibilidad del consumo de este producto que es exclusivo de exportación, sin embargo, es importante que la población antes de comprar y consumir este producto verifique la procedencia para evitar riesgos a la salud.