At least one person in Hall County has been sickened by the strain of salmonella linked to contaminated tomatoes.

Dave Palmer, spokesman for District 2 Public Health, said a Hall County resident was hospitalized in May for an illness caused by salmonella Saintpaul, the bacteria associated with a nationwide outbreak.

Palmer said the patient has fully recovered.

"It is unknown where they might have eaten when they got the infection," he said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared tomatoes grown in Georgia to be safe. But before tomatoes were pulled off store shelves in early June, many people were eating tomatoes brought in to Georgia from other parts of the country.

The FDA still does not know the exact source of the outbreak.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent report, 552 people have been infected since April with salmonella Saintpaul in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

Georgia had 11 cases, including the one in Hall County. Most cases of illness occurred in April and May, but the numbers are continuing to grow because the CDC is still receiving delayed reports of positive lab tests.

Salmonella Saintpaul generally lasts four to seven days and causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramping. No deaths have officially been attributed to the illness.