Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department announced late Friday that one case of the salmonella Saintpaul bacterial infection has been identified in Lawrence.

Lisa Horn, health department spokeswoman, said the case was reported in mid-February and was confirmed as the Saintpaul strain this week by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. She said the case involved a 23-year-old Lawrence man.

This case is one of five that have been identified in northeast Kansas. A KDHE spokesperson wouldn’t identify where the other cases were. Its definition of northeast Kansas covers 17 counties, including Douglas, Shawnee, Osage, Franklin, Miami, Jefferson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte.

There is one additional confirmed case of salmonella Saintpaul, and results of tests to determine whether that case is linked are pending.

Kansas is one of five states affected by the outbreak. The other states are Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Missouri.

These cases are not connected to the recent peanut butter-related salmonella cases.

A possible link was identified with sprouts from SunSprout Enterprises Inc. of Omaha, Neb., but laboratory testing did not confirm sprouts as the source. As a precautionary measure, the company voluntarily recalled its alfalfa, onion and gourmet sprouts.

But on Friday, John Hall, a spokesman for SunSprout, said that no problems were found during an inspection by local and federal health officials, and the company was cleared to resume shipping its sprouts.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokesman Mike Herndon said later Friday that the inspection at SunSprout was ongoing, but no cause of the salmonella outbreak had been found so far.

According to the company, the sprouts first suspected were distributed to food distributors in Iowa and Nebraska who sell the product to restaurants and retail stores.

The sprouts were sold refrigerated under the SunSprout label in 4-ounce clear plastic clamshell containers. The alfalfa sprouts are also packaged in bulk 2.5-pound and 5-pound cases for use in restaurants. The onion sprouts and gourmet sprouts are not packaged in bulk form.

If consumers have any of the sprouts in their possession, they can discard them or call SunSprout with any questions they may have at 402-331-0803.

Most people infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. However, in some people, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized.

Anyone who is ill and may have eaten sprouts should see a physician.

“Even if you think your case is not a big deal and you think it’s a minor case, please contact the health department or doctor because this could be linked to the outbreak and it will help the investigation,” Horn said.

Every year, about 40,000 cases of salmonella infection are reported in the United States. Because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be 30 or more times greater. Salmonella infections are more common in the summer than winter.