The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services believes 14 patients who recently became sick at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit contracted a "relatively rare" strain of salmonella, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The strain — Salmonella Isangi —is so rare that state officials had to contact the CDC to obtain more information on it.
Jim Collins, director of the communicable diseases division of the MDHHS, told the Detroit Free Press that there are currently no other clusters of the strain reported in the state our country but it's not unheard of. Salmonella Isangi has been reported just four times in the past five years in Michigan, according to the report.
Henry Ford Hospital is investigating the outbreak, but has not reported whether a source has been identified. Hospital officials say they do not believe the outbreak related to the patients' food, even though most strains of salmonella are food-borne.
As of Sept. 30, seven of the 14 patients sickened by salmonella remained in the hospital and had been isolated as a precaution, according to the report.
Henry Ford Hospital could not be immediately reached by Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality for comment regarding the outbreak.
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