Federal officials say the government hopes to pinpoint the source of a salmonella outbreak linked to ground turkey very soon.    The outbreak dates back to March and Pennsylvania has confirmed five cases in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas. One death has been reported in California and 71 people have been sickened in two dozen other states.

Dr. Andre Weltman, public health physician with the Pennsylvania Health Department, says the cases in Pennsylvania were not recent, they happened earlier in the outbreak.

Dr. Weltman hopes people will not be afraid to eat ground turkey. He says they just need to avoid cross contamination and prepare it properly. This means cooking any raw ground meat product thoroughly, all the way to the middle.

Ideally, Dr. Weltman says a thermometer should be used to check the internal temperature.  The U. S. Department Of Agriculture says ground turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. He says remember to wash or sanitize the thermometer after checking the temperature.

Dr. Weltman says although 77 salmonella cases have been confirmed across the country, many more may have gone unreported. He says there could be as many as 38 cases for every one that is cultured and reported to a local or state health department as having the organism linked to the illness. This is because some people may have only suffered minor symptoms, and did not seek medical care.

 Dr. Weltman says turkey is a healthy alternative and if you take care with it, it’s fine to eat to help reduce fat and cholesterol.