CHAMPAIGN, Ill. As they scrambled recently to trace the source of a salmonella
outbreak that has sickened hundreds around the country, investigators from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successfully used a new tool for the
first time the shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe every time they
buy groceries.
With permission from the patients, investigators followed the trail of grocery
purchases to a Rhode Island company that makes salami, then zeroed in on the
pepper used to season the meat.
Never before had the CDC successfully mined the mountain of data that
supermarket chains compile.
"It was really exciting. It was a break in the investigation for sure," CDC
epidemiologist Casey Barton Behravesh said.
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