Today, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published food safety alerts about a growing Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapenos served at Chipotle and Qdoba restaurants across the country. 

So far, cases have been reported in 27 states, sickening at least 345 people. A total of 36 people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported. Colorado and Minnesota have reported 110 cases each, with Illinois reporting 30 cases. 

“Of the 191 people interviewed, 177 (93%) reported eating at a Mexican-style restaurant before their illness, including Chipotle Mexican Grill and QDOBA, with meal dates ranging from June 14, 2026, to July 14, 2026,” the CDC said. 

The FDA said the jalapenos were from Sinaloa, Mexico, and distributed to restaurants by Coast Citrus Distributors. The distributer has recalled the peppers, and both Qdoba and Chipotle have stopped serving them.

“The CDC and FDA do not consider there to be a current ongoing risk from these establishments to consumers in this outbreak,” the CDC said. 

A study conducted in two Southern California nursing homes found that only universal decolonization of residents was associated with reduced carriage of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and bedroom contamination, with daily enhanced cleaning providing no added benefit, researchers reported yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

MDROs are endemic in nursing homes, with studies showing more than 50% of residents carry MDROs on their skin. Using chlorhexidine wipes and nasal products to decolonize the skin of nursing home residents has been proven to substantially reduce MDRO carriage and subsequent infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Other strategies, like enhanced environmental cleaning, have demonstrated reductions in MDRO contamination of hard surfaces. 

But implementing multiple strategies for reducing MDROs in nursing homes is expensive and resource intensive, note researchers with the University of California Irvine School of Medicine. "Thus, it is necessary to prioritize the most effective strategies," they wrote.

To assess the comparative benefits of the two strategies, the researchers conducted a four-phase quality-improvement study at two nursing homes. The four phases, implemented sequentially, included universal decolonization only, routine care (control), once-daily enhanced cleaning only, and universal decolonization plus enhanced cleaning. The primary outcomes were MDRO carriage on resident skin and in nostrils and MDRO contamination of high-touch objects in bedrooms and common areas.

Decolonization, disinfection of shared spaces

In adjusted models, decolonization alone was associated with 59% reduction in MDRO carriage compared with the control phase and a 64% reduction compared with enhanced cleaning. Enhanced cleaning alone did not reduce MDRO carriage and provided no additional benefit when combined with decolonization. 

The results were similar for bedroom contamination: Decolonization alone reduced bedroom contamination by 84% compared with the control phase and by 74% compared with enhanced cleaning, while enhanced cleaning alone did not reduce contamination and provided no benefit when combined with decolonization. 

In common areas, however, the combined intervention reduced contamination better than either intervention alone.

"Taken together, these findings suggest that resource-constrained settings should prioritize decolonization strategies, alongside targeted postactivity disinfection in shared spaces, for effective MDRO prevention," the authors concluded.