The laboratory detail that has drawn the least attention in the nationwide egg recall may be the one that matters most to the people who got sickest. The CDC's July 24 investigation update reports that whole-genome sequencing of bacteria from all 98 patients' samples predicted nonsusceptibility to ciprofloxacin and resistance to nalidixic acid, two drugs that clinicians would otherwise consider for a severe Salmonella infection.
Twenty-six people in this outbreak have been hospitalized. For that group, and for anyone who becomes seriously ill from these eggs in the coming weeks, the resistance pattern narrows the treatment shelf before a doctor even opens it.
