Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Recalled Tuna Sickens 62 People In 11 States

(Morton Fox)

At least 62 people in 11 states have become infected in the year’s latest Salmonella outbreak, this one concerning recently recalled frozen raw tuna widely used by restaurants and grocery stores serving sushi.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week that 11 of the 62 people infected in the now widespread outbreak have been hospitalized.

The illnesses linked to this particular strain of Salmonella occurred between March 5 and July 7 of this year. Affected consumers ranged in age from a few months old to 83.

Additional cases of infection may be likely, as the CDC says it takes an average of two to four weeks between when a person gets sick to when the agency receives information about the illness.

So far, the illnesses have been reported in Arizona, California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

According to the CDC, most of the people who have become ill from the outbreak strain of Salmonella reported eating sushi made with raw tuna in the days before coming sick.

Earlier this week, California-Based Osamu Corporation voluntarily recalled two different kinds of tuna shipped from an Indonesia-Based processing plant after a sample was discovered to be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.

The recall covers all frozen tuna and one lot of frozen yellowfin tuna chunk meat under the AFC label sold to restaurants and grocery stores throughout the U.S. between May 9, 2014 and July 9, 2015.

Only two of the reported illnesses have been tied to the single lot of tuna chunk meat under the AFC label. The connection to that specific tuna was made after the Minnesota Department of Health and Department of Agriculture isolated the outbreak strain from samples of unopened frozen raw tuna collected from a Minnesota grocery store where an ill person in this outbreak reported eating tuna sushi.

The company tells NJ.com that they don’t believe customers were able to purchase the product directly. Rather, the meat was sold in bulk to the stores and restaurants for preparation in their sushi meals, which were then sold to consumers.

The tuna in question can be identified by four-digit purchase order numbers 8563 through 8599 located on each product carton box.

While some people have no symptoms from Salmonella infections, others will typically have fever and abdominal distress for four to seven days, but children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems can become more seriously ill and should seek medical attention.

Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+) Infections Linked to Frozen Raw Tuna [CDC]
Restaurant sushi recalled over Salmonella fears [NJ.com]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist