Franklin County Health Department sanitarians David Fehlinger and Joe Meier listened to a half-hour Indiana State Department of Health conference call Wednesday, Feb. 11, updating them about the national salmonellosis outbreak caused by the salmonella typhimurium bacteria hidden in products containing peanut butter or peanut paste.

Then they got busy calling county stores, eateries and gas stations, reminding managers to check the expanding list of recalled items made by Georgia-based Peanut Corp. of America that appears on 450 pages of the Food and Drug Administration Web site.

When Fehlinger phoned May's Grocery, Laurel, he was told some products already had been pulled from shelves. An employee questioned if a certain type of cookie was on the list. The sanitarian searched the FDA site, then told her to remove those as well.

“All the (chain) grocery stores I've talked to have been working with that (recall) since Day One,” Fehlinger reported. “They all feel real confident they're in good shape.”

Meier said ISDH is worried smaller retailers may not have been notified by distributors about the problem. “Some of these gas stations have some oddball stuff,” he observed.

State health officials told sanitarians the recalled products go back as far as January 2007. “Peanut butter in jars and Girl Scout cookies with peanut butter are not on the recall list,” according to Fehlinger.

As of Feb. 9, eight have died during the recent outbreak in the United States, according to the ISDH Web site. None lived in Indiana, he said. “A healthy human can get sick from it, but it (may not be) ... life threatening.” Infants, the elderly and persons with impaired immune systems are more likely to develop severe cases.

Now there are nine confirmed cases of salmonellosis in Indiana and about 600 across the nation. Half of those who have become ill are children under 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fehlinger suspected more Americans may have had salmonellosis without realizing it if symptoms were mild. “Some people may not report it.”

Symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and fever. Signs of the illness, which can last up to a week, start between 12 and 72 hours after eating peanut-containing products. Persons with these symptoms should contact their primary physicians, he said.

To prevent illness or death, consumers should check the list (www. fda.gov or www.in.gov/ isdh/), which has grown to nearly 1,800 items. Some not-so-obvious foods – ice cream, candies and even chocolate chip cookies – are being recalled. Meier suggested that area residents check ingredient labels for peanuts or peanut butter before going online.

“When in doubt, throw it away. It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Fehlinger said.

Debbie Blank can be contacted at 812-934-4343, Ext. 113; or debbie.blank@ batesvilleheraldtribune.com.