More than 1,000 people have become sick in the salmonella outbreak at first only blamed on tomatoes, and federal health officials now say jalapeņo peppers caused some illnesses, especially in three larger clusters.

The outbreak, which has become the largest one carried by food in the last 10 years, also caused the death of a Texas man in his 80s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The CDC said salmonella may have contributed to the death of another Texas man, who had cancer.

As of Tuesday, 1,017 people -- from 41 states, the District of Columbia and Canada -- had been confirmed to be infected with the rare salmonella strain dubbed Saintpaul, the CDC said. The first patient became sick on April 10 and the latest on June 26.

The latest figure is an increase from the 943 cases that were reported as of July 3. The outbreak appears to be continuing.

Recently, many clusters of illnesses have been identified in several states among persons who ate at restaurants. Most clusters involve fewer than 5 ill persons. Three larger clusters have been intensively investigated. In one, illnesses were linked to consumption of an item containing fresh tomatoes and fresh jalapeno peppers. In the other two, illnesses were linked to an item containing fresh jalapeno peppers and no other of the suspect items. The accumulated data from all investigations indicate that jalapeno peppers caused some illnesses but that they do not explain all illnesses. Raw tomatoes, fresh serrano peppers, and fresh cilantro also remain under investigation. Investigators from many agencies are collaborating to track the source of the implicated peppers and other produce items.

Most of this newest influx of cases were people who got sick weeks ago but hadn't been counted yet. Some states began doing a better job of checking for salmonella as the outbreak has dragged on, while part of the surge comes from test results that had been backlogged in jammed laboratories. Earlier today, six new illnesses connected to tainted tomatoes were confirmed in New York City.

What hasn't changed is that the earliest known victim got sick on April 10, and the latest on June 5.

But New Hampshire and Pennsylvania reported their first cases, bringing to 30 the number of states - plus Washington, D.C. - that have reported sick residents, although some may have been infected while traveling. At least 48 people have been hospitalized.

It might be impossible to trace the ultimate source of the tainted tomatoes, the Food and Drug Administration's food safety chief warned Wednesday.

Since April, 383 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 30 states and the District of Columbia: Arkansas (2 persons), Arizona (26), California (8), Colorado (2), Connecticut (2), Florida (1), Georgia (8), Idaho (3), Illinois (34), Indiana (8), Kansas (9), Kentucky (1), Maryland (10), Michigan (3), Missouri (9), New Hampshire (1), New Mexico (70), New York (9), North Carolina (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (5), Oregon (4), Pennsylvania (2), Tennessee (4), Texas (131), Utah (2), Virginia (17), Vermont (1), Washington (1), Wisconsin (5), and the District of Columbia (1). These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The marked increase in reported ill persons is not primarily due to a large number of new infections. The number of reported ill persons increased markedly mainly because some states improved surveillance for Salmonella in response to this outbreak and because laboratory identification of many previously submitted strains was completed. Among the 243 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 5, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 88 years; 47% are female. At least 48 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.

As a follow-up to the recent Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting an extensive inspection of ConAgra's Sylvester, Georgia processing plant. Samples collected by the FDA revealed the presence of Salmonella. The fact that FDA found Salmonella in the plant environment further suggests that the contamination likely took place prior to the product reaching consumers. Last week, tests by several states identified Salmonella in many open jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter recovered from consumers. In these instances, the Salmonella found in the plant and in the open jars matched the outbreak strain recovered from consumers who became ill.

Symptoms of foodborne illness caused by Salmonella include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In persons with poor underlying health or weakened immune systems, Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections or death. Individuals who have recently eaten peanut butter-containing products from these companies and who have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately and report the illnesses to their state or local health authorities. Similarly, institutional food establishments and other food service providers who have received reports of illness from consumers after they consumed a product containing this peanut butter are encouraged to share that information with their local health department.

The survey, made public at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, led researchers to conclude that media reporting and public health education efforts on risky eating habits and food-borne illnesses may be working.

But people under 18 years old with compromised immune systems were much more likely -- by 21 to 14 percent -- to eat risky foods than healthy people of the same age, the survey found, leading researchers to believe they may have to target specific groups for education.

The proportion of people eating risky foods dropped from 31 percent in 1998 to 21 percent four years later, according to the results of telephone surveys of 15,000 to 20,000 people conducted by the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet.