The Moby Dick House of Kabob Salmonella outbreak has sickened 33 people in two states and the District of Columbia. This outbreak was first announced on September 26, 2019 by the Maryland Department of Health. There are no notices of the outbreak on the Virginia Department of Heath or the Washington, D.C. Department of Health Websites.
On September 26, the Maryland Department of Health stated that nine confirmed Salmonella cases were identified in this outbreak. Eight of those nine people said they ate Moby Dick House of Kabob hummus. The sale of that hummus was voluntarily suspended by the company.
News reports were stating that the hummus had been excluded as a source of the Salmonella earlier in October 2019.
The outbreak continued to grow. In mid-October, Maureen C. Regan of the Maryland Department of Health told Food Poisoning Bulletin that the case count had increased to 23 in that state. She also said that hummus was not excluded as a possible source of the pathogen in this outbreak.
On October 24, 2019, Julie Henderson, Director, Division of Food and General Environmental Services of the Virginia Department of Health told Food Poisoning Bulletin that nine people in that state are sick in this outbreak; all patents are adults, and one may or may not have been hospitalized.
Then on October 28, 2019, Alison Reeves, Public Affairs Specialist in the Office of Communications and Community Relations of the Washington D.C. Department of Health told Food Poisoning Bulletin that there is one confirmed case of Salmonella food poisoning associated with the D.C. location of Moby Dick House of Kabob.
If you have been sickened with Salmonella food poisoning, you can contact food safety attorney Fred Pritzker for help by calling 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
There is no more information about the possible causes of the outbreak from any health department. We don’t know what food has caused these illnesses. But there is a history of Salmonella outbreaks linked to or associated with hummus in this country.
Earlier this year a Salmonella Concord outbreak was linked to Karawan Tahini, an ingredient used to make Hummus. That outbreak sickened six people in three states. And last winter, a Salmonella Concord outbreak was inked to Achdut Tahini, sickening eight people in four states.
The symptoms of a Salmonella food poisoning infection include a fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal and stomach cramps, and diarrhea that may be bloody. If you ate at Moby Dick House of Kabob restaurants in those states and have been ill with those symptoms, see your doctor. This infection can have long term health consequences. Some patients develop irritable bowel syndrome, endocarditis, high blood pressure, or reactive arthritis even after they completely recover.
