Consumers Warned of Salmonella From Eggs : Health: Officials say illnesses have risen dramatically. Producer blames sicknesses on people undercooking or not refrigerating them.

Ventura County public health officials on Tuesday warned consumers to be more careful when purchasing and preparing eggs amid a “definite increase” in illnesses linked to salmonella contamination.

While county public health nurse Marilyn Billimek said the surge falls short of an outbreak or an epidemic, the number of cases of Salmonella enteritidis has grown from four in 1987 to more than 60 in 1994.

“It’s been creeping up since about 1987,” Billimek said. “We have a definite increase.”

Also Tuesday, officials from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties announced similarly dramatic increases in the number of cases.

Billimek said the illness has stricken egg eaters across Ventura County, but tends to affect people with immune systems weakened by other diseases, or those who are very young or very old.

“A lot of older people seem to think that raw eggs are good for your health,” Billimek said. “In fact, they’re very dangerous.”

The bacteria can cause bouts of diarrhea, weakness and stomach cramps lasting from six hours to six days. Officials urged consumers to cook their eggs well to avoid the disease.

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Dale Long, president of Embly Ranches, a major producer and distributor of eggs and the operator of Egg City in Moorpark, said news about the illness may hurt his business going into the busy Easter season.

“It’s certainly not going to help,” he said.

Egg users, not producers, are to blame for the salmonella cases, said Long, chairman of the California Egg Quality Assurance Plan, a partnership of companies and government agencies.

“In almost all cases, it was mishandling of the product,” Long said, blaming consumers who undercook eggs or fail to keep them refrigerated.

Long said that in the past few years, Egg City has stopped conducting tours and started inspecting its chicken feed in an attempt to reduce the spread of the bacteria. Line supervisors at the facility also will attend a special training course about Salmonella enteritidis in May.

Billimek said eggs with runny yolks, egg nog, cookie dough, hollandaise sauce and Caesar salad dressing are all risky.

Eggs that are cracked in the carton should be avoided, and uncracked eggs should be kept refrigerated, officials said.

That recommendation already has been heeded by Linda Strong, who on Tuesday was opening up a carton of eight extra-large eggs at Ralph’s supermarket on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

“As long as they’re not broken, I’ll buy them,” Strong said. “I used to eat them raw, but now I hard-boil them or poach.”

While Ventura County is monitoring the health problem, Billimek said, officials have no plans to take action to combat the disease.

“I think the public would be in an uproar if we removed all the eggs from the shelves,” she said.