Category Archives: Shigatoxin

Food Poisoning Bulletin

According to data presented at the CDC’s Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference, contaminated asparagus was the likely source of a Shigella outbreak at a Yarnhill County wedding in Oregon in 2018. One hundred twelve people were sickened; 10 people were hospitalized.

A total of 263 people attended the wedding. Seventy-five percent of those people responded to the survey. The patient age range was from 2 to 93 years. Of the 95 people who responded, 97% said they got sick within 12 to 72 hours after the wedding. Fifty-seven patients went to a health care facility.

Investigators found that only asparagus was associated with illness.

FDA 

May 21, 2019

Audience

• Consumers who recently experienced symptoms of foodborne illness after eating raw oysters
• Restaurants that sell raw oysters in California, Nevada, New York, and Arizona

Product

• Oysters harvested from Estero El Cardon, Baja California Sur, Mexico
• Oysters were distributed primarily to California, Nevada, New York, and Arizona
• Oysters were sold to wholesale distributors with direct sales to restaurants and not to grocery retail outlets.

Purpose

Consumers should not purchase oysters marketed as being harvested from Estero El Cardon, in Baja California Sur, Mexico from restaurants. Consumers who have recently experienced symptoms of foodborne illness should contact their healthcare provider and report their symptoms and receive care.

Restaurants and retailers should not serve oysters from the Estero El Cardon harvest area in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Restaurants and retailers should dispose of any products with harvest tags that indicate a growing area of Estero El Cardon by throwing them away.

Symptoms of Shigella Illness (Shigellosis)

Shigella is a bacterium that spreads from contaminated feces. It often spreads through unclean water that an infected person has been in. Food can become contaminated when handled by an infected person who did not use proper hand hygiene after going to the bathroom, or if contaminated water is used in the process of growing or preparing the food.

Symptoms of shigellosis generally develop within 8 hours or up to about 2 days. Although shigellosis is often mild and goes away by itself in a week or less, it can become very serious in some cases. Severe cases can be treated with certain antibiotics. Symptoms of shigellosis may include watery stool that may have blood, pus, or mucus in it, vomiting, cramping, and fever. Young children, the elderly, and people with a weak immune system are more likely than others to develop severe illness.

If you suspect you have symptoms of shigellosis, contact a health professional.