As of June 4, 2015, a total of 53 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+) have been reported from nine states. Ten ill people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Most of the ill people have been reported from the southwestern United States, or reported travel to this part of the country in the week before they became ill. The number of ill people reported from each state is as follows: Arizona (10), California (31), Illinois (1), Mississippi (1), New Mexico (6), South Dakota (1), Virginia (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (1).

This outbreak is caused by Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+) bacteria, formally known as Salmonella Java. The illness caused by this bacteria typically includes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12-72 hours after an exposure. Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate(+) does not cause paratyphoid fever, enteric fever, or typhoid fever.

Most ill people in the outbreak reported eating sushi made with raw tuna in the week before becoming ill. At this time, a common brand or supplier of raw tuna linked to illnesses has not been identified by ongoing traceback. As a result of the ongoing investigation, the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department working with the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory identified Salmonella Newport in one sample and Salmonella Weltevreden in another sample of frozen raw ground tuna products.

The unopened frozen ground tuna products represented two different lots of product imported from Indonesia by Osamu Corporation of Gardena, California. On May 27, Osamu Corporation recalled[PDF- 1 page] the two lots of ground frozen yellowfin tuna imported from Indonesia due to possible Salmonella contamination. A search of the PulseNet database did not identify any known human illnesses linked to the recall.

Restaurants and retailers should not sell or serve recalled[PDF- 1 page ground frozen yellowfin tuna imported from Indonesia by Osamu Corporation. People at higher risk for serious foodborne illness should not eat any raw fish or raw shellfish, regardless of an ongoing outbreak.

Salmonella: 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 $600 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.