Outbreak of Salmonella serotype Kottbus infections associated with eating alfalfa sprouts--Arizona, California, Colorado, and New Mexico, February-April 2001.

On March 12, 2001, the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) identified a cluster of Salmonella Kottbus isolates with indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns. During February 1-May 1, CDHS identified 23 patients with S. Kottbus infections in several California counties and an additional patient from Arizona. This report summarizes the results of the investigation of this outbreak, which identified cases in four states and implicated alfalfa sprouts produced at a single facility.