Cracking the poison processed peanuts case

[RamboLiberal]

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Solving the case of the poison processed peanuts took marathon work by federal scientists, clues in Canada, Oregon, Ohio and Connecticut, and a breakthrough in Minnesota at the hands of public health hotshots known as Team Diarrhea.

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The peanut case quickened the pulse of federal scientists on Nov. 12, more than a month after people started getting sick, when the federal Centers for Disease Control detected a cluster of salmonella cultures with an unusual genetic fingerprint reported from 12 states.

That was "a blinking light," Dr. Ali Khan, assistant surgeon general, told Congress.

PulseNet, a national network for finding patterns in widely dispersed foodborne bacterial illness, offered additional clues when four more states reported the cluster.

Then on Dec. 2, scientists began examining a second salmonella cluster with a similar genetic makeup, reported from 17 states. The two clusters turned out to be the same.

"December is when the alarm bells go off," Kahn said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29098417/

[IntravenousDemilo]

1. I guess the only safe people are those who have severe peanut allergies.

They would have avoided the little legumes in any case.

But at least they weren't the melamine-and-lead peanuts from China. On the other hand, we needn't be smug about Chinese quality control.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Oh man.

I want a "Team Diarrhea" hat so bad! ;-)