A salmonella outbreak is affecting the United States right now, and onions are suspected to be the culprit. Oklahoma is experiencing the second-highest number of infections out of all the impacted states in the country, reported FOX 25 News.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting more than 700 illnesses across the nation as of Thursday morning. Oklahoma alone has 98 hospitalizations related to the outbreak.
The CDC says that the outbreak is linked to contaminated onions that were distributed by ProSource Inc. The fresh whole red, yellow, and white onions were imported from Chihuahua, Mexico. The affected onions were last imported on August 27th and have been sold to restaurants and grocery stores all over the United States.
The symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. Typically the symptoms will appear anywhere from six hours to six days after consuming the bacteria.
According to the CDC, most people will recover from the illness without treatment within four to seven days of the initial infection. Some more severe cases need medical treatment and even hospitalization.
State epidemiologist Jolianna Stone said:
"Health department representatives will ask what you ate in the week before you started to get sick, so if you start feeling like you might have Salmonella, it’s a good idea to start making a list of the foods you’ve eaten during that time frame so that key information is readily available."