8 Hospitalized, 1 Dead Due to Salmonella Outbreak Found in Ground Beef in 6 States

An outbreak of salmonella has been linked to ground beef, according to the Center for Disease Control, reports Time.

Ten reported incidents of people falling ill from eating beef containing Salmonella Dublin have been reported in California, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The source of the ground beef, however, has not been detected, as they reported different brands and sources of ground beef they had consumed. One person has died from it.

Salmonella can be deadly, as seen here, when it is present in raw or undercooked ground beef, so if you have any meat that you think might contain it, it is safe to eat it as long as it comes to an internal temperature of 160°F. But you should take extra care washing hands and equipment that might have touched the infected meat.

Salmonella symptoms tend to present 12 to 72 hours after the person ingests the contaminated food and last for four days to a week. Most people recover without treatment or long-term effects, but it can be severe or deadly, particularly in children under the age of 5 or adults over 65. Eight of the 10 people with this particular strain of salmonella were hospitalized, which the CDC feels is quite high. Most of them reported eating ground beef at home, which, unlike many other major outbreaks, means this may come from packaged ground beef, rather than prepared or fast food beef.

Ground beef can be particularly prone to outbreaks like this because of the way our food system works: While a steak or other whole cut comes from a single cow, much of the ground beef in production could contain meat from as many as 400 different cows in a single pound. That ups the chances that a single infected cow could transmit the disease to high numbers of people greatly.

While the CDC is investigating, there has been no conclusive statements or recalls regarding this particular infection, so exercise caution with any ground beef you might be cooking.