Salmonella In Hawaii: Ahi Tuna ID'd As Source Of Outbreak

Ten reported case of Salmonella Paratyphi B infection in O'ahu were traced to frozen imported Ahi tuna, most likely from Asia, that the victims had mostly eaten in the form of poke.

Hawaii health officials are unable to pinpoint the exact source yet:

"We go through a chronology of what they did, what they ate, what they could have been exposed to and when we find something that's common among the individuals , then we do further investigation into sources, where distribution patterns may have occurred. It is a very complicated process. We don't want to implicate an organization or a business that didn't have any fault."

Thirteen other cases of the same ailment have been reported in other states. From Food Safety News, those include:

California (7), Maryland (2), Pennsylvania (2), Massachusetts (1), and New York (1). Public health agencies in all states are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to determine whether all ill individuals were exposed to raw ahi prior to becoming ill with salmonellosis.

More details at the Honolulu Advertiser and Food Safety News.

Comments

[Godweiser]

07:50 PM on 04/23/2010

I've had Salmonella. I'm so happy I haven't eaten tuna in the last week or so.

[coreopsis]

03:12 PM on 04/23/2010

I once had a 3 day bout with 'tunamonella" after eating seared tuna at a restaurant. The most interesting thing is that I shared my dinner with my sister because she was not happy with her dinner. She ate about 1/3 of my fish and was sick about 1/3 of the time that I was sick. It will make you sicker than you could ever dream! Be careful with tuna!