The unopened frozen ground tuna products represented two different lots of product imported from Indonesia by Osamu Corporation of Gardena, CA, CDC stated. On May 27, Osamu Corporation recalled the two lots of ground frozen yellowfin tuna imported from Indonesia and distributed in California and Arizona due to possible Salmonella contamination.
The company’s recall announcement includes a seven-page retail distribution list of restaurants and sushi bars in California where the recalled product had been distributed. CDC is advising restaurants and retailers not to sell or serve the recalled ground frozen yellowfin tuna imported from Indonesia by Osamu Corporation.
However, CDC stated that a search of the PulseNet database did not identify any known human illnesses linked to the tuna recall. State health departments continue to test samples of raw tuna products, but the strain of Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+) (formally known as Salmonella Java) linked to the outbreak has not been identified.
Friday’s CDC update stated that as, as of June 4, a total of 53 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+) have been reported from nine states. Ten of those people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.
The reported cases are in Arizona (10), California (31), Illinois (1), Mississippi (1), New Mexico (6), South Dakota (1), Virginia (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (1). Most of those sickened in the outbreak reported eating sushi made with raw tuna in the week before becoming ill, CDC noted.
CDC case count map sushi Salmonella outbreak
Persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+), by state of residence, as of May 21, 2015 (n=53).
The illness caused by this bacteria typically includes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12-72 hours after an exposure, CDC stated, adding that Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+) does not cause paratyphoid fever, enteric fever, or typhoid fever.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports it has increased its monitoring of tuna, according to the CDC update. Additionally, FDA is conducting a traceback investigation and is evaluating and analyzing records to determine whether there is a common source of raw tuna linked to the outbreak.
CDC, along with and state and local public health partners, is continuing laboratory surveillance through PulseNet to identify additional ill people and to interview them about foods they ate before they became ill.
CDC also stated that people at higher risk for serious foodborne illness, such as children younger than 5, adults older than 65, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, should not eat any raw fish or raw shellfish, regardless of an ongoing outbreak.
