BEWARE: Chicken Served at Wedding Linked to Salmonella Outbreak in Alabama

The Alabama Department of Public Health blames the chicken served at a wedding last November 12 for the recent outbreak of salmonella that sickened nearly 100 in Colbert County.

Preliminary investigation of the health officials showed traces of the salmonella enteriditis in food specimens of cooked chicken and green beans that were served during the wedding. About 150 people attended the wedding. Out of those, 99 were sickened due to the food borne disease with 22 of them needed hospital care.

According to the report from Decatur Daily, the Indelible Catering of Moulton, which provided the food for the wedding, has been involved to another outbreak of food-borne disease in 2014. The permit of Indelible Catering of Moulton is now being suspended by emergency order.

Federal investigators believe that the salmonella originated in the chicken and cross-contaminated the green beans, most likely from using the same utensils during preparation. Poultry products that have not been cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees have a high risk of salmonella contamination. Telltale symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection.

The illness usually last four to seven days and in most cases, patients can recover without medical intervention. However, some extreme cases of infection could cause severe diarrhea, resulting in hospitalization.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella is estimated to cause one million food-borne illnesses in the United States every year. These also include about 19,000 hospitalization and 380 deaths as a direct result of the illness.

Salmonella can become a deadly illness when the bacteria spread from the intestines to the blood vessels and then to other body parts. Children, elderly and people with compromised immune system are more likely to experience the more severe case of salmonella.

The best way to prevent the spread of salmonella is thoroughly cooking raw poultry and meat. Keeping a clean work environment with different set of utensils for raw products, vegetables and other ingredients could also prevent further spread of the bacteria through cross-contamination.