healthmedicinet

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning on Tuesday that a salmonella outbreak affecting 18 patients in six states has been connected to Papa Murphy’s uncooked cookie dough.

Two people were admitted to the hospital as a result of the illnesses, the CDC reported in its advisory. Nobody has perished.n

People in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, and Missouri were ill. According to the CDC, illnesses were recorded between February and May.nn

In interviews with some of the sick people, the agency learned that several reported having eaten the dough. Investigators are now working to determine which ingredient within the dough may be contaminated.n

It’s likely that more people are ill in the outbreak than investigators know about because some recover without medical care and aren’t ever tested, the CDC noted.n

In the meantime, the agency is advising people to throw out the cookie dough if they have any in their kitchen. Papa Murphy’s is temporarily not selling its raw chocolate chip cookie dough and raw S’mores bars dough.n

Salmonella can be severe in some people. For most, it causes diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps about six hours to six days after exposure, and then typically lasts for four to seven days.n

But children younger than 5, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have severe illness, according to the CDC.n

It’s important to throw away any dough you may have at home, even if you ate some of it already and didn’t get sick, the CDC said. Wash all surfaces that have touched the dough. Use hot, soapy water or a dishwasher.n

Always follow cookie dough baking instructions in the recipe or on the package label. Papa Murphy’s dough was not meant to be eaten raw.n

While some other companies make cookie dough that’s edible without baking, those products contain heat-treated flour and pasteurized eggs or no eggs.

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