CDC Used Frequent-Shopper Cards To Find Salmonella
May 12, 2010 | 1 min to read
CHAMPAIGN, IL — As they scrambled recently to trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds around the country, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used a new tool for the first time — the frequent-shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe when they buy groceries.
With permission from the victims, investigators followed the trail of grocery purchases to a Rhode Island company that makes salami, then zeroed in on the pepper it used to season the meat.
Never before has 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.
At least 245 people in 44 states have been sickened in the outbreak. That includes 30 in California, 19 in Illinois, 18 in New York and 17 in Washington state.
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