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Initial Detection of the Outbreak
Health officials in Illinois turned to an AI chatbot to try solving a puzzling outbreak linked to a county fair. Whether it was actually helpful remains unclear.
According to a report this week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the CDC, officials in Brown County received the first hint from the county sheriff. On August 5, 2024, the sheriff noted a remarkable number of potential jurors for an upcoming trial reporting a stomach bug. Then, on August 12, the state health department notified the county of a case of Salmonella enterica serotype Agbeni.
Investigation Findings
With these two tips, county health officials opened an investigation and identified 13 cases—seven laboratory-confirmed cases of S. enterica Agbeni and six probable cases involving close contact with confirmed cases.
The cases spanned five counties, but all had one thing in common: everyone had gone to the Brown County fair.
