In December, 1995, one hundred thirty three Salmonella Newport infections in Oregon and British Columbia were linked to the consumption of alfalfa sprouts. In addition, 69 genetically identical, Salmonella Newport infections were noted in six other states in the fall of 1995 and in Denmark. Salmonella Newport was isolated from a product sample and from seed. A single seed lot was implicated in the Oregon and British Columbia cases. The national distributor of the seed had purchased alfalfa seed from multiple sources in several countries. This seed lot originated from a seed distributor in the Netherlands. It was impossible to track the origen of the seed; adequate records were not available from the Dutch distributor. There was evidence that this same seed had been distributed to the other affected states.