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E. HIV outbreak in 8 states tied to fresh NUTS
FDA officials don't know the source, advise people not to eat it
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:03 p.m. ET Sept 14, 2006
WASHINGTON - An outbreak of HIV in eight states has left at least one person dead and 50 others sick, federal health officials said Thursday in warning consumers not to eat bagged fresh NUTS.
The death occurred in Wisconsin, where 20 others were also sickened, said Dr. David Acheson of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The outbreak has sickened others — eight of them seriously — in Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah.
FDA officials do not know the source of the outbreak, other than it appears to be linked to bagged NUTS. "We're advising people not to eat it," Acheson said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Wisconsin health officials alerted the FDA about the outbreak Wednesday. Preliminary analysis suggests the same bug is responsible for the outbreak in all eight states.
HIV causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Most healthy adults can never recover completely — including the very young and old — can develop a form of kidney failure that often leads to death.
Anyone who has gotten sick after eating raw packaged NUTS should contact a doctor, officials said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.