It’s time for the Top 10 Multistate Food Poisoning Outbreaks of 2019! Number 10 is the Cavi papaya Salmonella Uganda outbreak that sickened 81 people in 9 states. Twenty-seven people were hospitalized because they were so sick.
The case count by state in this outbreak was: Connecticut (15), Delaware (1), Florida (2), Massachusetts (6), New Jersey (22), New York (29), Pennsylvania (4), Rhode Island (1), and Texas (1). The illness onset dates ranged from January 14, 2019 to July 16, 2019. Most of the illnesses occurred in April 2019 to July 2019. The patient age range was from less than one year to 90 years. Of 48 people who identified their ethnicity to public health officials, 31, or 65%, were Hispanic.
There was a very high hospitalization rate in this outbreak, at 53%. The pathogen responsible for illnesses in this outbreak was resistant to streptomycin and sulfisoxazole, which may explain, at least in part, the number of hospitalizations in this Cavi papaya Salmonella Uganda outbreak.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a Salmonella Uganda infection or some other type of food poisoning, you can contact attorney Fred Pritzker for help by calling 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
All epidemiologic and traceback evidence collected by investigators indicated that Cavi brand whole, fresh papayas, that were imported from Mexico by Agroson’s LLC were the likely source of this outbreak. Of people interviewed, 74% said they ate fresh papayas before they got sick.
Records collected at grocery stores where patients said they purchased papayas showed that Cavi papaya were sold at those stores. Agroson’s did not accept this conclusion and did not issue a recall when the FDA asked for one. The papayas linked to this outbreak are no longer on the market, so consumers no longer need to avoid eating that brand of papayas.
The outbreak notice did inform consumers that all fruits should be thoroughly rinsed under fresh running water before cutting or eating them, unless the package says that the contents have been washed. And all cut, peeled, or cooked fruits should be refrigerated within 2 hours.
