Disease detectives in Minnesota are better than in most states
The discovery that a nationwide salmonella outbreak occurred as a result of contaminated peanuts was made by Minnesota health officials, who often find outbreaks that no one else does.
Minnesota investigators are often ahead of the game on outbreaks, while other researchers get lead in wrong directions or simply don't even know an outbreak is occurring.
The Star Tribune reported that many experts think because there are so many inconsistencies in food safety around the country the system should be overhauled.
Since 1995 great improvements in tracing outbreaks have been made since DNA has been used to match viruses in different states, allowing officials to know if there are many outbreaks, or just one.
The only thing that was able to detect this outbreak was detailed questioning of each patient who demonstrated symptoms.