An outbreak of salmonella infections in the Chicago area has been linked to ground beef, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPHj) said on June 7.
So far, health officials have identified 26 confirmed cases in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the department said. Those people fell ill between April 25 and May 18.
Several of the patients in Illinois who got sick from salmonella reported that they ate undercooked ground beef, health officials said.
The source of the contaminated meat has not yet been identified, but health officials urged residents to follow safe food handling steps when preparing and eating ground beef, which should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71.11 degrees Celsius) and checked with a food thermometer….