Salmonella-tainted sprouts sicken 21 in US

An outbreak of salmonella poisoning in salad sprouts has sickened 21 people in the United States but is not connected to the German E. coli outbreak, health authorities said Tuesday. The illnesses arose between April 12 and June 7 and so far have spanned five states. Three people have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. "A total of 21 persons with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported from five states: Idaho (three), Montana (seven), North Dakota (one), New Jersey (one) and Washington (nine)," the CDC said. The salmonella is believed to originate in alfalfa sprouts and spicy sprouts. An outbreak of killer E. coli blamed on organic vegetable sprouts grown in northern Germany, has killed 48 people and sickened 3,900, German health authorities have said. All the fatalities were in Germany, except for a woman in Sweden who died after being infected in Germany. One death in the US state of Arizona by a person who had traveled to Germany is under investigation, but has not been confirmed as linked to the German outbreak, the CDC said last week.