3 salmonella cases in Carson linked to egg recall

Three cases of salmonella enteritidis - the strain associated with the massive egg recall stemming from farms in Iowa - have been reported in Carson City since June, according to a city health official.

Dustin Boothe, the epidemiologist for Carson City Health and Human Services, said Friday that six cases of the strain also have been linked to patients in Lyon and Douglas counties since June.

So far this year, there have been seven cases of salmonella reported in Carson City, four unrelated to the current egg recall. In 2009, there were eight salmonella cases in Carson City.

Meanwhile, a second Iowa farm is recalling eggs because of salmonella poisoning. The FDA says the recall is related to an ongoing investigation of an outbreak that has sickened more than 1,000 people.

Iowa's Hillandale Farms said Friday it was recalling its eggs after laboratory tests confirmed illnesses associated with them. The company did not say how many eggs were being recalled or if it is connected to Wright County Egg, the Iowa farm that recalled 380 million eggs earlier this week.

An FDA spokeswoman said the two recalls were related. The strain of salmonella poisoning is the same strain linked to Wright County Egg, which are packaged under the names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp.

Hillandale eggs were distributed under the brand names Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, Sunny Meadow, Wholesome Farms and West Creek.

Salmonella is the most common form of food poisoning from bacteria, and the strain involved in the outbreak is the most common kind of salmonella - accounting for roughly 20 percent of all such food poisonings.

On Friday, the Save Mart grocery stores in Carson City say they have been unaffected by the ongoing recall.

In a statement, the company said the only eggs it sold that may have included the tainted eggs were its Bayview brand, which had a sell-by date of June 20-27 and were sold in packages of five dozen.

"We are confident that these eggs are no longer on our shelves," the statement said. "However, in an abundance of caution and because we value our customers' safety, we have advised our stores to scrutinize their stock."

Elsewhere in Nevada, the Southern Nevada Health District in Las Vegas has seen 30 cases of salmonella enteritidis since January - about four times more than normal. In Reno, 16 cases have been reported by health officials, about six times the number normally reported.

California has reported 266 illnesses since June and believes many are related to the eggs. Other states have seen a jump in reports of the same type of salmonella. Spikes or clusters of suspicious cases have also been reported in Arizona, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

-The Associated Press contributed to this report