Salmonella outbreak sickens dozens

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Dozens of people have fallen ill with salmonella after eating meals prepared at a Los Angeles preschool, officials said.

Ten children and five adults have been hospitalized and at least 32 people have fallen ill, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Bob Pratt, the president of Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles, which operates the Hollywood preschool where the illnesses occurred, said the salmonella outbreak was first detected Oct. 15.

The group operates 39 preschools in Los Angeles and a commercial kitchen in North Hollywood that supplies meals to about 15 of its classroom sites.

Public health officials ordered the central kitchen closed and asked that remaining food be thrown away and the floors be disinfected. The kitchen reopened this week, Pratt said.

"It appears that it's over with," Pratt said. "It definitely blindsided us."