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Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Frozen Tuna, Sickens 62 People Across 11 States

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 01:06 PST, Jul 24, 2015

A salmonella outbreak, linked to frozen tuna, has sickened 62 people across 11 states.

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that 62 people have fallen ill after contracting the strain of Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+), also known as Salmonella Java. As of July 20, 2015, 11 people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported so far.

According to epidemiologic and laboratory findings, this is the most likely cause of the infections, as most of the people included in the outbreak reported eating sushi made from raw tuna a week before getting sick.

This has prompted Osamu Corporation, of Gardena, California, to issue a voluntary recall on their frozen yellowfin tuna made in one of their factories in Indonesia. The recall includes loin, saku, chunk, slice, and ground market forms that were sold to restaurants and grocery stores during the time frame of May 9, 2014, to July 9, 2015. These products include the four-digit purchase order numbers 8563 through 8599 on the package.

Osamu Corporation is also recalling the Frozen Yellow Fin Tuna Chunk Meat (Lot #68568) that was sold to AFC Corporation, of Rancho Dominquez, California, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The products were shipped from AFC between May 20, 2015, to May 26, 2015.

The CDC is urging restaurants and grocery stores to check all of their products to make sure they aren’t serving or selling any of the products that are included in the voluntary recall. If those products are found, the CDC said to return them for a full refund.

The following states reported having people diagnosed with salmonella: Arizona (11), California (34), Illinois (1), Michigan (1), Minnesota (4), Mississippi (1), New Mexico (6), South Dakota (1), Virginia (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (1).

Children and the elderly are at a higher risk of contracting the illness, as they have weaker immune systems. Typically, the signs of salmonella will appear 12 to 72 hours after exposure and can include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. This particular strain of salmonella does not cause paratyphoid fever, enteric fever, or typhoid fever.

According to a previous report by the Inquisitr, Aspen Foods recently issued a recall that included nearly two million pounds of frozen chicken.

The recall included frozen, raw, stuffed, and breaded chicken products produced from April 15, 2015, and July 10, 2015, with “best if used by” dates between July 14, 2016, and October 10, 2016. The establishment number P-1358 will also appear inside the USDA mark of inspection.

[Photo via Shutterstock]

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