The investigation began with the detection of a cluster of Salmonella Newport illnesses and initiation of an investigation (Module 1), followed by gathering of information from cases to generate hypotheses on the source of the illnesses (Module 2), compiling evidence from epidemiologic, microbiologic, and traceback investigations to implicate a potential source (Module 3), and concluding the investigation by declaring the outbreak over and disseminating the results of the investigation to relevant stakeholders (Module 4).

The likely sources of the Salmonella Newport illnesses in this outbreak were two different brands of chia seeds packaged at the same facility: two lots of “Smile” brand chia seeds and one lot of “Nature’s Planet” brand chia seeds. These products were recalled from the market.

A list of all documents used in the case study can be found here.

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