Salmonella Outbreak May Be Linked to Sushi Ninety individuals in 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, have been sickened by what is suspected to be Salmonella Bareilly poisoning. The outbreak is being linked to sushi, say sources in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but more investigation is underway to isolate its origin. As of the first week of April, FDA had yet to issue a public statement on the status of the latest Salmonella outbreak. Most restaurants now require a food safety certification or a food handler certification as an employment requirement, a far-sighted industry and in some cases local-government initiative to prevent foodpoisoning outbreaks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), meanwhile, has been coordinating with the FDA in the investigation and is in the process of determining and verifying the source. CDC officials are looking at the sushi angle, cautiously postulating that spicy tuna roll sushi is "highly suspect." Most of the cases have arisen in the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf coast, but some have been far-flung, with incidences reported in Missouri and Texas. Health officials characterize the outbreak as "rapidly expanding," possibly an unfortunate consequence, say the officials, of the protracted reporting lag time (up to 32 days after a patient's infection is verified). So far, seven individuals have turned in sick enough to be hospitalized. Unofficial information is implicating six restaurant clusters where customers were sickened after dining. The clusters are in Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin, which reported two clusters. Learn2serve.com, a 360training.com portal for online food safety certification and online food handler certification, educates restaurant workers in the all-too-critical protocols of proper food handling and food safety that keep foodborne illnesses at bay.