Eggs linked to salmonella outbreak in 3 states

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eggs from a farm in Iowa have been linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people in California, Colorado and Minnesota over the last three months, the U.S. government said.

Nationwide, salmonella outbreaks have increased four fold since May, which has sparked an investigation of the food borne illness in 13 states, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). No deaths have been reported.

The number of salmonella cases reported each week, normally around 50, zoomed to 200 a week since May, the FDA said. Preliminary investigations pointed to eggs from Wright County Egg, of Galt, Iowa, as a potential source.

Some 266 cases of salmonella in California have been linked to the eggs, said Los Angeles County officials on Tuesday.

Wright County Egg announced a voluntary recall on Friday of millions of eggs that it shipped since May 19 and were distributed nationally.

"There have been confirmed Salmonella enteritidis illnesses relating to the shell eggs and traceback investigations are ongoing," said Wright County Egg in a statement.

The company is part of DeCoster Farms, a family-run agribusiness that is a large egg producer. There was no answer to several calls on Wednesday to DeCoster offices in Clarion, Iowa.

FDA said it was conducting an extensive investigation at the Iowa company, including sampling, a review of records and a search for potential sources of contamination, such as feed.

The egg producer said it was cooperating fully in the investigation and was diverting its eggs to a breaker, for pasteurization to kill any harmful bacteria.

State and local officials were investigating salmonella cases in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas, said FDA.

Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain and can cause serious illness or death.

Affected by the recall are eggs packaged under brand names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

They are in cartons of six, 12 or 18 eggs and come from plants identified as P-1026, P-1413 or P-1946 and followed by a number from 136 to 225. The figures are stamped on the end of the carton.

(Reporting by Charles Abbott; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)