Illness From Tainted Ice Cream Spreads -- Officials Try To Find Source Of Salmonella

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The confirmed number of Minnesotans who have become sick after eating Schwan's ice cream climbed to 80 yesterday as officials tried to pinpoint the source.

Health officials said the number of people who contracted salmonellosis would likely reach into the thousands. They expressed concern that the salmonella, which was identified yesterday in a carton of the company's ice cream, might spread disease to vulnerable people in nursing homes, day-care centers and hospitals.

Schwan's produces 400,000 pounds of ice cream every week in its Marshall, Minn., plant and sells it nationwide and throughout Washington state, including the Puget Sound area.

Most ice cream from trucks

Some Minnesotans bought the ice cream from stores, but the majority was purchased from Schwan's trucks that distribute door-to-door.

So far, officials have confirmed 80 cases of the illness, up from 67 on Friday. But they expect the numbers to soar, especially when states that do not have Minnesota's sophisticated disease surveillance system begin reporting cases.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," state epidemiologist Michael Osterholm said at a news conference yesterday. He anticipates thousands of cases will occur in Minnesota alone.

"Nationally, you multiply that by some number," he said.

Osterholm said a number of people were hospitalized after becoming sick, and officials are investigating an unconfirmed report of one fatality linked to the outbreak.

Since Friday, when the outbreak was first reported, the Minnesota Health Department has logged more than 1,200 calls from concerned consumers who ate ice cream produced in the company's plant in Marshall. Company phone lines jammed

All nine telephone lines set up over the weekend to handle the calls were still jammed yesterday, officials said.

Osterholm said the Schwan's case is the single biggest food-borne outbreak he has experienced since he began working for the health department some 20 years ago.

In the meantime, health officials warned consumers not to eat any remaining Schwan's ice cream products, even if portions that were eaten earlier did not cause any ailments.

"The next scoop you take may be contaminated," Osterholm said.

The salmonella bacterium is commonly associated with poultry and eggs. Symptoms, which usually appear in about three or four days after eating a contaminated product, include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever.

People who become severely ill should consider seeing their doctors. People who are vulnerable to the effects of the disease can be treated with antibiotics.

Yesterday morning, staff members in the health department's lab isolated the bacterium in an open package of Schwan's ice cream provided by a family from southeastern Minnesota who had gotten sick after eating some of it.

Reports are beginning to come in from day-care centers, where all youngsters who ate the company's novelty ice cream items got sick, Osterholm said. "We expect to hear about a lot more outbreaks in institutions," he said.

Worry about disease's spread

He is also worried that consumers who eat the ice cream and get sick may not properly wash their hands and may spread the disease to family members.

While health department experts try to pin down the extent of the outbreak, officials from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the federal Food and Drug Administration are combing through the plant in Marshall to find the source of the contamination.

Schwan's officials voluntarily closed down the plant on Friday, and Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Jackie Renner said it would remain closed until government officials found the source of contamination. ----------------------------------------------------------------- About the salmonellosis outbreak

Ice cream is the perfect vehicle for transmitting Salmonella enteritidis, Minnesota state epidemiologist Michael Osterholm said yesterday. "In fact, in the laboratory, we often preserve bacteria by mixing it with a milk product and then freezing it," he said.

Recalled Schwan's products: Schwan's half gallons of ice cream, Frozen Yogurt, Lite, Extra Lite and Sherbets (all flavors). Schwan's 6-quart pails (all flavors). Schwan's 2 1/2-gallon vanilla pails. Schwan's 1-gallon pails. All Currier & Ives containers. Sundae Cones. Ice Cream Sandwiches. Ice Cream Sundae Cups. Push-ems.

What to do: Health officials warn consumers not to eat any remaining Schwan's products. Consumers should return products to drivers or stores from which they purchased them, said company spokesman John DeVos. All consumers will receive full refunds.

Knight-Ridder Newspapers