National health officials believe they’ve found the source of the salmonella outbreak that has sickened some 486 people and left six dead. They’ve traced it to a peanut butter plant in south Georgia. “A combination [of testing and studies] have allowed the FDA to confirm that the sources of the outbreak are peanut butter and peanut paste produced by Peanut Corp. of America at its Blakely, Ga., processing plant,” said Stephen Sundlof, director of food safety for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “That is our assumption at this point. We will continue to follow up on any leads that point us in a different direction,” he added. The Blakely plant has shut down its business as the investigation continues, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. “The outbreak appears to be ongoing,” said Dr. Robert Tauxe, a deputy director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is “very powerful evidence” of a link to the Georgia plant, according to federal researchers, who said the outbreak-strain of salmonella was recently found in an unopened container of the plant’s peanut butter in Connecticut. The same strain of salmonella was found in an opened container of peanut butter at a Minnesota nursing home where several people became ill.

TAGS: outbreak, peanut butter, Salmonella

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