The first lawsuit has been filed in the ongoing and broadening sushi Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 141 people in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The lawsuit was filed this week against the Moon Marine U.S.A. Corp., of Cupertino. California.
According to the lawsuit, two women from Wisconsin, ages 22 and 33, were hospitalized and are still recovering from a bout of Salmonella poisoning—Salmonellosis—they contracted six-to-nine weeks prior, said MSNBC. The women dined separately, but at the same restaurant, and both consumed tuna rolls that were originally sold by Moon Marine, added MSNBC.
“I was just in complete body pain from head to toe and the next day I got bloody diarrhea. I couldn’t even drink water,” Amy Karfonta, 22, told MSNBC. Karfonta’s symptoms began manifesting about six days after she ate the potentially contaminated sushi and needed two emergency room visits. She had to provide a stool sample, required rehydration with intravenous fluids, and underwent a CT scan of her colon, MSNBC explained. “When they saw how bad my colon was ulcerated, they first thought it could have been Crohn’s disease, or something where I may have had to have my colon removed at 22,” Karfonta, who was forced to miss scheduled physical testing for a police department job, added. Karfonta is scheduled to undergo additional colon testing. “That will be in late April because if there’s something still tender in there, they don’t want to rupture it,” she told MSNBC.
Amber Azzolina, 33, consumed a spicy tuna roll on February 14 and began feeling abdominal pain two days later that was accompanied by bloody stools; two days after that, her husband fell ill and Amber being spiking fevers and vomiting, which lasted, along with the bloody diarrhea, for nine days. Azzolina sought emergency room treatment.
MNSBC attempted to call Moon Marine USA, but its call was sent to voicemail and a comment was not immediately received.
As we’ve mentioned, of the 141 sickened, all are linked to potentially contaminated sushi and 21 involved hospitalizations. The outbreak has prompted a recall of 30 tons of raw, frozen tuna known as Nakaochi Scrape that originated in India.
The Nakaochi Scrape linked to the multi-state outbreak of the Salmonella Bareilly pathogen was originally distributed by Moon Marine USA Corporation, also known as (AKA) MMI of Cupertino, California. The tuna product, labeled as Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA Nakaochi Scrape is tuna backmeat that is specifically scraped from the bones and looks like a ground product.
The recall is complex because Salmonella Bareilly is a rare strain of the pathogen and, the recalled Nakaochi Scrape, although not available for individual consumer sale, is used in the making of sushi, sashimi, ceviche, and other similar dishes that are purchased from grocery stores or ordered at restaurants. Because of the vast distribution chain and that the fish is delivered frozen, it is difficult to determine to where the fish may have ultimately been delivered and if all recipients are aware that they are in possession of the contaminated Nakaochi Scrape.
