In 1984, a salmonella outbreak was brought to the attention of Wasco-Sherman Public Health Department in Oregon. Out of the 751 affected individuals, 45 were hospitalized.
The infected individuals reported fevers, chills, nausea, vomiting, discomfort, and bloody feces after consuming food from a salad bar, which was later identified as the outbreak’s source. Rimple Patel’s report provides information on the major points of this outbreak.
Although environmental contamination research indicate that unhygienic food handling procedures contributed to the outbreak, the outbreak’s real cause was later discovered. To sway results of the municipal election in their favor, members of the Rajneesh Puram cult distributed the Salmonella Typhimurium culture to local restaurants. Involved individuals from the cult were charged with “conspiring to tamper with consumer items by poisoning food” and were sentenced a 4.5-year prison term.