A total of 55 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Stanley were reported from 12 states.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from January 21, 2020, to September 19, 2020. Ill people ranged in age from 2 to 74 years, with a median age of 28. Fifty-seven percent of ill people were female. Of 48 ill people with information available, 6 hospitalizations were reported. No deaths were reported.
Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback information showed that wood ear mushrooms distributed by Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc., were the likely source of this outbreak.
Five illness clusters were identified at restaurants serving ramen in three states. Ten (91%) of the 11 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 from four of the restaurants with illness clusters 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 these restaurants.
On September 23, 2020, Wismettac Asian Foods recalled dried fungus due to possible Salmonella contamination. On October 1, 2020, the California Department of Public Health identified the outbreak strain of Salmonella Stanley in recalled dried fungus samples.
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