State Looking at Salmonella Cases in Texas Panhandle

State health officials are investigating about a dozen cases of salmonella over the past several weeks in Dallam and Hartley counties in the northwest corner of the Texas Panhandle.

The director of the infection prevention program at Dalhart’s Coon Memorial Hospital says the number of cases prompted the alert to state authorities. They’re contacting people who have or have had the illness to try to find a common thread.

Salmonella illness is spread by eating contaminated foods, drinking contaminated water or having hand-to-mouth contact with an infected person or animal. It usually develops 12 to 72 hours after infection and can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The illness lasts around four to seven days.

State health services department spokesman Christine Mann says the agency has no information yet to share.