In puzzling outbreak, officials look to cold beer, gross ice, and ChatGPT

Health officials in Illinois turned to an AI chatbot to try to solve a puzzling outbreak linked to a county fair. But whether it was actually helpful or not remains unclear.

According to [a report this week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report][1], officials in Brown County got the first hint of an outbreak from the county sheriff, who noted on August 5, 2024 that a remarkable number of potential jurors for an upcoming trial said they had a stomach bug. Then, on August 12, the state health department notified the county of a case of *Salmonella enterica* serotype Agbeni.

With those two tips, county health officials opened an investigation and were able to identify 13 cases—seven laboratory-confirmed cases of *S. enterica *Agbeni and six probable cases that were in close contact with confirmed cases. The cases spanned five counties, but they all had one thing in common: everyone had gone to the Brown County fair.

[Read full article][2]

[Comments][3]

[1]: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/75/wr/mm7507a1.htm
[2]: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/did-chatgpt-help-health-officials-solve-a-weird-outbreak-maybe/
[3]: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/did-chatgpt-help-health-officials-solve-a-weird-outbreak-maybe/#comments

Cans inside a cooler filled with ice.


https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/did-chatgpt-help-health-officials-solve-a-weird-outbreak-maybe/