'Team Diarrhea' called in to crack salmonella case

Minnesota Department of Health investigators used bloodhound-like sleuthing to ID the source: jalapeno peppers. In less than two weeks, Minnesota Department of Health investigators traced the source of a mysterious salmonella outbreak that had stumped federal health officials for two months and sickened more than 1,200 people in 43 states and Canada. The culprit: jalapeno peppers. Federal officials had focused on tomatoes as the source of the salmonella, causing restaurants and stores to pull tomatoes and severely hurting tomato farmers in suspect areas. While tomatoes haven't been entirely cleared by federal authorities, attention has now turned to the peppers in what federal officials said was a major break in the case. A gee-whiz state lab, investigators dubbed "Team Diarrhea" and a unique approach to sleuthing illness... [read full story]