According to the FDA, a total of 26 individuals across 15 states are infected in a salmonella outbreak possibly affected by contaminated cucumbers from two Florida growers. (Photo Credit: Maryam Rahmanian/UPI | License Photo)

May 20 (UPI) -- FDA officials have warned the American public to not eat, sell or serve cucumbers grown and distributed by two Florida companies after a salmonella outbreak in more than a dozen states.

A total of 26 individuals across 15 states as of Friday were infected in an outbreak with the Salmonella Montevideo strain, officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday in a release.

Officials pointed to cucumbers that were grown and distributed by Florida-based companies Bedner Growers and Fresh State Produce Sales from April 29 to Tuesday in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach, respectively.

Health officials added that some of the people infected reported eating cucumbers.

Meanwhile, the FDA advised U.S. restaurants, retailers and distributors that bought the potentially contaminated cucumbers between that three-week window to notify customers of the health concern.

It added that products were labeled as either being a "super," a "select" or "plain" and may have been sold in smaller packages or individually with or without a label, which may or may not bear the same brand or "best by" date.

"Cucumbers distributed before this timeframe should be past shelf life and should no longer be available on the market," the agency stated.

FDA investigators collected samples as part of a follow-up inspection in April at Bedner's that came back positive for salmonella, which matched clinical samples via infected patients.

The follow-up was to circle back on a similar outbreak last year of Salmonella Africana and Braenderup linked to products grown at Bedner Growers, which found the location as the "common grower of cucumbers in this current outbreak."

Every year, salmonella causes about 1.35 million infections in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This follows a similar outbreak in December with cucumbers produced in Mexico which saw more than 100 salmonella cases in 23 U.S. states, and arrived as the FDA announced this month that it will boost surprise inspections at foreign-based food and medical facilities.

The illness typically occurs within 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated food with symptoms such as diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps that can last four days to a week. Children and elderly people with weakened immune systems are likely to see more severe symptoms.

More information

The CDC has more on salmonella.

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