In January 2000, public health officials in o Virginia noted an unusual group of patients sick with food poisoning from salmonella. Using PulseNet, the CDC identified 79 patients in 13 states who suffered infection from the same type of salmonella bacteria. Fifteen had been hospitalized; two had died What was the common factor? All had eaten mangoes during the previous November and December. The investigation led to a single large mango farm in Brazil, where it was discovered that mangoes were being washed in contaminated water containing a type of contamination salmonella bacteria. Salmonella is a widespread problem, and more recently cases have been detected. In other the spring of 2001, for example, almonds from a farm in California infected 160 Canadians with salmonella