Outbreak traced to pet food has sickened mostly infants; recalls underway

One person has been hospitalized and six additional people are sick in a widespread outbreak of Salmonella Kiambu infections traced to pet food, according federal public health officials.

Six of the seven patients are children one year old or younger, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The patients are spread across seven states: California, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Florida, Alabama and Hawaii.

“Epidemiologic and laboratory data show that a specific lot of Victor brand Hi-Pro Plus dry dog food is contaminated with Salmonella and has made people sick. The manufacturer, Mid America Pet Food, has recalled this and all other brands of pet food they make. See recalls for more details,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State and local public health officials are interviewing the patients or their family members about pets or pet food that the sick person may have come into contact with before they became ill. Of the five people interviewed, all reported contact with a dog or having a dog in the household, and three fed their dogs Victor brand dog food. One person reported feeding the Hi-Pro Plus product, and the other two did not remember the specific type of Victor brand product they fed their dogs, according to the CDC’s outbreak report.

“The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella. In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak,” according to the CDC.

The FDA reports that a retail sample of Victor brand Hi-Pro Plus dry dog food collected by the South Carolina State Department of Agriculture and analyzed by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control matches the strain of Salmonellafound in the seven ill people.

The CDC has conducted whole genome sequencing of samples from the outbreak patients and it shows they all were infected with the same Salmonella, suggesting they were sickened by the same source. 

“This means that people likely got sick by touching this dog food, touching things like dog bowls that contained this dog food, or touching the poop or saliva of dogs that were fed this dog food. There have been no leftover Victor brand products from sick people’s homes available for testing for Salmonella,” according to the CDC.

On Sept. 3 one lot of Victor brand H-Pro Plus dog food was recalled.

On October 30, three lots of Victor Super Premium Dog Food, Select Beef Meal & Brown Rice Formula were recalled.

On November 9, Mid America Pet Food recalled all brands of pet food they make.

For details and individual products for all of the recalls, click here.

The individual recalls are also listed on these pages with photos of the products included in the recalls: