An outbreak of salmonella has sickened at least 53 people in the United States specifically in California, health officials confirmed on Thursday. For the latest update, there were no deaths reported. The suspected caused of the outbreak, raw tuna.
According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, their probe regarding the outbreak has not yet identified which supplier of raw tuna was responsible for the said predicament. Out of the 53 who got sick, at least ten were hospitalized, Reuters reported.
Most of the cases were found in California after at least 31 were affected, the California Department of Public Health officials confirmed as reported by Yahoo Health. Other states that were affected were Arizona, Mississippi, Illinois, New Mexico, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
"As the investigation continues, this is a good reminder to Californians that there are sometimes risks when eating raw or undercooked meats, fish or poultry," reports California Department of Public Health director Dr. Karen Smith.
Salmonella infection or poisoning is caused by bacteria. Common signs and symptoms of the disease include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within eight to 72 hours. Generally, healthy people recover from the disease while those who are elderly, children, infants, pregnant women and those who are frail are more susceptible to the complications of the disease, Mayo Clinic reports.
In the past year, there were numerous Salmonella outbreaks in the United States ranging from caramelized apples, ice cream and repacked goods. In the present outbreak, the exact source of the infection is still unknown. However, when interrogated, most of the patients consumed sushi with raw tuna while some consumed spicy tuna.
Health officials said that the strain found in this outbreak were similar to the 2010 outbreak that was linked to an overseas source.
