At least 100 people have now been sickened by an outbreak of salmonella possibly linked to sushi, government health officials said Friday. Nearly a quarter of them are from New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ten people have been hospitalized in the outbreak of a rare strain of salmonella Bareilly that has affected victims in 19 states and the District of Columbia. No deaths have been reported.
Victims have ranged in age from 4 to 78, and include people who reported illness between Jan. 28 and March 23. Illnesses that occurred after March 8 might not be known because of the lag time between when people get sick and when they report it.
No food source has been positively identified, a CDC report said. However, initial interviews with 51 sick people show that 69 percent ate sushi, sashimi or similar foods in the week before they became ill. That compares with only about 5 percent of people in a control group who ate sushi, sashimi or ceviche made with raw fish or shellfish in the week before being interviewed.
The investigation into specific types of sushi that may be implicated is ongoing. An internal memo from the Food and Drug Administration inadvertently released earlier this week suggested that spicy tuna roll sushi was “highly suspect.”
The largest number of illnesses has been reported in New York, where 23 people were sickened.
Others include 10 in Maryland; nine in Illinois and Wisconsin; seven in New Jersey; five in Virginia and Connecticut; four each inGeorgia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island; three in South Carolina, Texas and Pennsylvania; two each in Alabama, Louisiana and North Carolina and the District of Columbia; and one each in Arkansas, Missouri and Mississippi.
Salmonella Bareilly is a rare strain sometimes associated with bean sprouts. Salmonella infections can cause nausea, vomiting, cramping, fever, chills and headache. Symptoms usually last four to seven days and typically resolve on their own. In some cases, however, patients have to be hospitalized.
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