In a follow-up report on the inpatient outbreak of salmonella at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan health officials have now identified the specific strain as Salmonella Isangi, according to a Detroit Free Press report.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

The relatively rare strain, in this case, is not believed to be foodborne.

To date, 14 patients from one hospital ward have been infected and the source of the outbreak remains a mystery. It has not been reported the type of hospital unit in which the outbreak has occurred.

Although not often see, a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Isangi has been implicated in a nosocomial outbreak affecting inpatient pediatric patients in South Africa last decade.

Jim Collins, director of the communicable diseases division of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services told the Detroit Free Press although other types of salmonella are not uncommon, Salmonella Isangi has been reported just four times in the past five years in Michigan.

Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch

Follow @bactiman63

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