Asheville North Carolina Salmonella Outbreak Has Investigators Scrambling to Find Food Source
Attorney Fred Pritzker 
Asheville, North Carolina, is the center of a growing Salmonella Parathypi B outbreak that has disease investigators and food poisoning attorneys digging to identify what is causing people in Buncombe County to get sick.
North Carolina Salmonella outbreak investigators do not believe the outbreak has peaked yet and 29 people — including two in South Carolina — already have been identified as having been infected by the outbreak strain of Salmonella Parathyphi B. Experts, including officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are reviewing laboratory reports and inspecting food sources that may be linked to the outbreak. In addition, epidemiologists are interviewing those who became ill to extract detailed food histories that can be compared in search of common denominators.
So far, the Buncombe County Department of Health has only said that the outbreak is central to people who live in the county or visited there since February 28, 2012. Determining the cause of the outbreak will thwart it.
Food poisoning law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys also is investigating the outbreak and is encouraging anyone who has fallen ill with Paratyphi B symptoms in the Asheville area and greater Buncombe County to immediately see a physician. Antibiotics can be used for treatment but are not always 100 percent effective. Doctors in the Asheville area of western North Carolina have been alerted to be on the lookout for cases.
For answers to legal questions about pursuing claims against the party or parties responsible for the outbreak, call Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or initiate contact online with one of our attorneys for a free case consultation.
Salmonella Paratyphi B, found in the intestines of humans, can be spread from person to person or by eating food or water contaminated with the feces of a person with an infection. Any food can become contaminated at any point in the food chain, including at home or in restaurants. Contamination can occur when a person infected with Salmonella Paratyphi B handles food and does not wash their hands well after using the bathroom.
Symptoms include diarrhea (sometimes bloody), escalating fever, fatigue, headache, loss of appetite, and stomach pain. They usually begin about 6 days after exposure but may not begin for as long as 30 days. Babies, young children, older adults and others who have underdeveloped or compromised immune systems are most at risk for serious complications from an infection of Salmonella Paratyphi B.
Raw Tuna Scrape Lawsuit: CDC Updates Investigation
Attorney Fred Pritzker 
The CDC has just updated their investigation into the Salmonella outbreak linked to raw tuna scrape imported by Moon Marine USA Corporation.
Now 200 people have been sickened in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Twenty-eight people have been hospitalized. The state of Vermont has been added to the outbreak count. The case count is:
- 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)
- Wisconsin (15)
Another type of Salmonella bacteria has been found in the raw tuna scrape. Salmonella Nchanga, which is very rare in the United States, has sickened 10 people in five states. The case count for this bacteria is:
- Georgia (2)
- New Jersey (1)
- New York (5)
- Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
The outbreak caused by this different bacteria was going on at the same time as the outbreak caused by Salmonella Bareilly. Public health officials interviewed patients and found that 50% of them had eaten sushi the week before becoming ill. Salmonella Nchanga was then found in samples of the raw tuna; this new bacteria matched the bacteria taken from patient’s stool samples. So investigators have combined the two investigations and will now refer to these bacteria as “the outbreak strains”.
Contact Fred for a free Salmonella case review.Any illnesses that have occurred after March 27, 2012 may not be included in this case count total because it takes a few weeks before illnesses are reported to authorities. Anyone who ate raw tuna and then experienced the symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning, including diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, and sometimes vomiting, should see their doctor.
Anyone injured in this outbreak deserves full and fair legal compensation. Contact me and my experienced Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation to protect your legal rights. You can also call us toll free at 1-888-377-8900.
Salmonella in Recalled Raw Tuna Scrape Matched to Salmonella in Victims
Fred Pritzker
Contact Fred about a sushi tuna recall lawsuit: 1-888-377-8900 (toll free).
The bacteria was found in a sample of spicy tuna roll made with the recalled tuna imported from India by Moon Marine USA Corporation. In PFGE, the bacteria’s DNA is cut into smaller pieces and placed in agraose, a jelly-like substance. Electricity is sent through the agraose in several different directions, which separates the DNA into a unique pattern.
Every outbreak strain of bacteria has a different PFGE pattern because bacteria mutate easily. If the PFGE pattern from bacteria found in a contaminated product lines up with the pattern from bacteria taken from an ill person’s stool sample, that is considered a genetic match.
In this case, the match establishes the bacteria found in the raw tuna scrape as the source of the outbreak.
More than 160 people in 20 states and the District of Columbia have been sickened in this current outbreak. The raw tuna, which was imported frozen in large lots, was broken down into smaller lots by Moon Marine USA. Since many of the smaller lots were not labeled, public health officials are concerned that the product may still be in freezers at grocery stores and restaurants around the country.
If you purchase any raw tuna product from a grocery store or restaurant, ask to make sure it is not part of this recall.
And if you or a family member ate any raw tuna product in the last several months and then exhibited the symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning, please see a doctor. Then call my team of experienced Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation to protect your legal rights. You can also call toll free 1-888-377-8900.
Salmonella food poisoning can be severe. Victims can become very ill and die. Survivors can suffer lifelong effects of this food poisoning, including colitis, blood infections, and Reiter’s syndrome, which can cause reactive arthritis and eye irritation. Anyone injured after eating a contaminated product deserves full and fair compensation. Contact us for a free consultation.
Raw Scraped Tuna: Testing of Imported Seafood Questioned
Fred Pritzker
The raw scraped tuna that is linked to the outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly food poisoning that has sickened 160 people and hospitalized 26 in 20 states and the District of Columbia was imported from India. Moon Marine USA Corporation, located in Cupertino, California, imported the fish and distributed it around the country.
The safety of imported food has been questioned by many experts. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 was supposed to increase the strength of imported food inspections, but one critical rule has been delayed by the Office of Budget and Management. The FDA has posted FDA staff to several countries around the world to help improve the safety of imported foods. Several offices opened in 2008 and 2009 in China, India, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East to check on facilities that process food.
Contact Fred for a free Salmonella case review.But only 2% of imported seafood is inspected as it enters the United States. A study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future found that the government’s imported seafood testing is “inadequate”.
Since the raw scraped tuna, also called Nakaochi Scrape, was chopped or ground, any bacteria contaminating its surface was mixed all throughout the product. Freezing doesn’t kill the Salmonella bacteria that was on the fish. So it was thawed and used to make sushi products such as spicy tuna roll. And sickened many people.
That tuna was recalled on April 14, 2012. More than 58,000 pounds of the product are part of that recall. Since much of the tuna was broken down into smaller lots without labels, tracking all of the recalled product may be difficult, and some grocery stores and restaurants may still have it in their freezers.
The symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning include diarrhea, sometimes bloody, fever, and abdominal cramps. The illness begins 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated product. While many people recover, others must be hospitalized. And the long term effects of Salmonella poisoning can be severe, including Reiter’s Syndrome which can cause reactive arthritis, sepsis, and even death. Anyone who suffered in this outbreak deserves fair and just compensation. Contact me or my associates online or by calling 1-888-377-8900.
If you or someone in your family was sickened after eating sushi or any raw tuna product, contact our experienced Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation to protect your legal rights.
Raw Sushi Tuna Salmonella Outbreak Expands: 160 Now Sickened
Fred Pritzker
The raw sushi tuna Salmonella Bareilly outbreak has expanded again, to include 160 people. According to the CDC, 26 of those people have been hospitalized.
The case count breakdown by state is as follows:
- Alabama (2)
- Arkansas (1)
- Connecticut (6)
- District of Columbia (2)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (6)
- Illinois (14)
- Louisiana (3)
- Maryland (14)
- Massachusetts (23)
- Mississippi (2)
- Missouri (4)
- New Jersey (8)
- New York (30)
- North Carolina (3)
- Pennsylvania (6)
- Rhode Island (5)
- South Carolina (3)
- Texas (4)
- Virginia (9)
- Wisconsin (14)
This is an increase of 19 cases since the last update on April 17, 2012. The additional cases came from Illinois (1), Massachusetts (14), New York (2), North Carolina (1), and Virginia (1). But, since food poisoning cases are underreported, public health officials have assigned a multiplier to each type of pathogen that causes an outbreak.
The multiplier for Salmonella is 30.3. That means there are most likely 4,848 people who are ill in this particular outbreak. And the CDC says that anyone who became ill after March 24, 2012 is most likely not included in this case count because it takes time to report illnesses after they occur.
Moon Marine USA Corporation imported the product associated with this outbreak. Nakaochi Scrape, which is scraped from the bones of tuna, chopped, and frozen, came from India. It was used to make spicy tuna rolls and other types of sushi that were sold at grocery stores and restaurants in many states.
If you or a family member ate any raw tuna product since January of this year and became ill with any symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning, contact your doctor. And then contact our experienced Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation.
The people who have been sickened by this contaminated product deserve fair and full compensation for their suffering. Every Salmonella victim has the right to seek compensation. Contact us for a free consultation, or call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free).
