Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/scientists-track-source-of-salmonella-outbreak-mystery Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript A salmonella outbreak in May sparked a lengthy investigation that first called tomato crops the culprits, causing farmers to lose $100 million, and later found the true source to be Mexican peppers. Tom Bearden reports on the salmonella probe. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: Now, tracking the source of this summer's salmonella outbreak. NewsHour correspondent Tom Bearden has our Science Unit report. TOM BEARDEN: TV audiences love watching investigators use a combination of high-tech equipment and old-fashioned shoe leather to solve complex mysteries. ACTOR: Ah, the old flower delivery trick. Works every time. TOM BEARDEN: Detectives like these on "CSI" follow promising leads, and sometimes find themselves at a dead end. Except for the Hollywood glitz, that's also a pretty fair job description for the people who investigate outbreaks of food-borne disease, the men and women who work in public health in state and federal agencies.Fictional CSI investigators usually start with a body. In public health, it usually starts in a doctor's office. A person comes in complaining of stomach problems. If it appears to be food poisoning, the doctor orders lab tests. In the most recent outbreak, which began at the end of April, salmonella turned out to be the culprit.It's a rod-shaped bacteria that can be found in meat, poultry and eggs. But, in recent years, it's also been found in fresh produce. Once ingested, it can take several days before people become sick.Complicating all this is that fact that, on average, only one person in 38 who gets sick actually visits a doctor.