A cook at a Queens diner prepares undercooked eggs and cross-contaminates a salad with the same utensil. A customer later suffers diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours afterward. Which pathogen is the most likely cause?

Explanation

Nontyphoidal Salmonella is commonly linked to poultry, eggs, and cross-contamination, with diarrhea, fever, and cramps appearing about 6 to 72 hours after eating. Cooking eggs and poultry to required temperatures and preventing cross-contact controls it. Hepatitis A causes jaundice, botulism causes paralysis, and Listeria most affects pregnant and immunocompromised people.