Recall of eggs tied to salmonella jumps to 380 million

ATLANTA - Hundreds of people have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak linked to eggs in three states and possibly more, and health officials Wednesday dramatically expanded a recall to 380 million eggs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with state health departments to investigate the illnesses. No deaths have been reported, said Dr. Christopher Braden, a CDC epidemiologist involved in the investigation.

Initially, 228 million eggs were recalled, but that number was increased to the equivalent of nearly 32 million dozen-egg cartons.

The CDC said eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, were linked to several illnesses in Colorado, California and Minnesota. The CDC said about 200 cases of the strain of salmonella linked to the eggs were reported weekly during June and July, four times the normal number of such occurrences. Spikes or clusters of suspicious cases have also been reported in Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin.

State health officials say tainted eggs have sickened at least 266 Californians and seven in Minnesota.

The eggs were distributed around the country and packaged under the names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating.

Representatives for several major grocery stores on Long Island said Wednesday their eggs were not part of the recall.

Spokespeople for the New Jersey-based Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., owner of Waldbaum's and Pathmark; Bethpage-based King Kullen and Wild By Nature; and Whole Foods, based in Austin, Texas, said they were not affected by the recall. A call to Boston-based Stop & Shop was not immediately returned.

In a statement, Iowa company officials said the FDA is "on-site to review records and inspect our barns." The officials said the recall began Aug. 13.

The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.

With Emi Endo