Five people in Washington contracted Salmonella in the ice cream:

Five people in Washington have contracted food poisoning after eating cake batter-flavored ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery stores.

The victims -- a woman in King County, a man in Whatcom County, two girls in Snohomish County and a woman in Spokane -- were infected with a rare strain of the salmonella bacteria called salmonella typhimurium, according to the state Department of Health.

According to this study, there are an estimated two to four million cases of Salmonellosis per year in the United States, with gastroenteritis as the most common clinical presentation. Nontyphoidal Salmonella account for 9.7 percent of all bacterial foodborne illnesses and 30.6 percent of deaths as of 1999.




Fluid repletion is the mainstay of treatment. In healthy people with competent immune systems, antibiotic treatment is not recommended. However, in those with severe fever, a need for hospitalization, and severe diarrhea, one can use a 3-7 day course of Cipro or Bactrim. ("Cold Stone ice cream linked to salmonella", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Jul.2)