The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been following the Salmonella Bareilly and Nchanga outbreaks. A recent update regarding their investigation puts the number of sick individuals at over 200. New York has been the hardest his thus far. The outbreak investigation has determined that a possible source is frozen raw yellowfin tuna product. This product is also referred to as Nakaochi Scrape. The company in question is Moon Marine USA Corporation. Currently, the investigation is ongoing. While illnesses which have been deemed linked by the investigators appear to have originated in January 2012, a spike in case numbers was seen in late March. Highlights from the CDC’s article are reprinted below.
Based on an epidemiological link and results of laboratory testing, CDC has combined this Salmonella Bareilly investigation with an ongoing multistate outbreak investigation of Salmonella serotype Nchanga infections. The two associated PFGE patterns have been grouped together as the “outbreak strains.”
A total of 200 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Bareilly or Salmonella Nchanga have been reported from 21 states and the District of Columbia.
190 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly have been reported from 21 states and the District of Columbia. The number of ill persons with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (8), District of Columbia (2), Florida (1), Georgia (9), Illinois (15), Louisiana (3), Maryland (20), Massachusetts (24), Mississippi (2), Missouri (4), New Jersey (18), New York (33), North Carolina (3), Pennsylvania (7), Rhode Island (6), South Carolina (3), Texas (4), Virginia (9), Vermont (1), and Wisconsin (15).
10 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Nchanga have been reported from 5 states. The number of ill persons with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Nchanga identified in each state is as follows: Georgia (2), New Jersey (1), New York (5), Virginia (1), and Wisconsin (1).
28 ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.
Collaborative investigation efforts of state, local, and federal public health agencies indicate that a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, known as Nakaochi Scrape, from Moon Marine USA Corporation is the likely source of this outbreak.
FDA laboratories have identified Salmonella in two samples of Nakaochi scrape yellowfin tuna with a PFGE pattern indistinguishable from the Salmonella Bareilly strain associated with this outbreak. One of the samples also yielded another type of Salmonella with a PFGE pattern indistinguishable from the cluster of Salmonella Nchanga infections.
Testing conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection laboratory isolated the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bareilly from one sample of recalled tuna and one sample of a spicy tuna roll made with recalled tuna.
Consumers should not eat the recalled product, and retailers should not serve the recalled raw Nakaochi Scrape tuna product from Moon Marine USA Corporation.
This investigation is ongoing. CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing surveillance to identify new cases.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
