As of October 2, 2020, a total of 43 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Stanley have been reported from 10 states.

Illnesses started on dates ranging from January 21, 2020, to August 26, 2020. Ill people range in age from 2 to 74 years, with a median age of 27. Sixty percent of ill people are female. Of 35 ill people with information available, 4 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported.

Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback information show that wood ear mushrooms distributed by Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc., are the likely source of this outbreak.

In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 19 people with information, 17 (89%) reported eating ramen at a restaurant in the week before their illness started. Several people reported eating at the same ramen restaurants, showing they may be part of illness clusters.

Four illness clusters were identified at restaurants serving ramen in three states. Eight (89%) of the nine ill people linked to restaurant clusters reported eating wood ear mushrooms or ramen containing wood ear mushrooms in the week before their illness started.

FDA and states conducted a traceback investigation to identify the source of the wood ear mushrooms eaten by ill people. Traceback determined that Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc., supplied wood ear mushrooms (dried fungus) to the restaurants with illness clusters.

On October 1, 2020, CDPH identified the outbreak strain of Salmonella Stanley in recalled dried fungus samples collected at one of the restaurants linked to an illness cluster. The dried fungus was distributed by Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc.

Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of Salmonella outbreaks. The Salmonella lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Salmonella and other foodborne illness outbreaks and have recovered over $750 million for clients.  Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our Salmonella lawyers have litigated Salmonella cases stemming from outbreaks traced to a variety of foods, such as cantaloupe, tomatoes, ground turkey, salami, sprouts, cereal, peanut butter, and food served in restaurants.  The law firm has brought Salmonella lawsuits against such companies as Cargill, ConAgra, Peanut Corporation of America, Sheetz, Taco Bell, Subway and Wal-Mart.

If you or a family member became ill with a Salmonella infection, including Reactive Arthritis or Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark Salmonella attorneys for a free case evaluation.

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