Public Health Canada has declared the Canadian Salmonella peach outbreak over after sickening 57 people in two provinces. There is a corresponding outbreak in the United States that was just declared over by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The notice from Public Health Canada states that “Given that Salmonella illness reporting linked to this outbreak has significantly decreased over the last four weeks, the outbreak appears to be over and the investigation has been closed.” People may still have these peaches either frozen in their freezers or in other products.
In Canada, a consumer advisory was issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for Prima Wawona peaches that were imported from the United States and sold from June 1, 2020 to August 22, 2020. The peaches were sold under these brand names: Extrafresh, Harvest Sweet, Prima, Sweet 2 Eat, Sweet O, Sweet Value, Wawona, and Wegmans. Peaches grown in Canada are not associated with this outbreak. And peaches imported from the United States are no longer under investigation.
The patient case count by province is; Ontario (41) and Quebec (16). Illness onset dates ranged from June to August 2020. Twelve people were hospitalized because they were so sick.
Check to see if you still have any of these peaches in your home, including these that may have been frozen or otherwise processed into other foods. If you aren’t sure whether or not you purchased these recalled peaches, throw them away.
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include a headache, a fever, nausea, abdominal and stomach pain and cramps, and diarrhea that may be bloody. Most people recover without medical attention, but some can become sick enough with sepsis or dehydration to need hospitalization.
And the long term complications of this infection can be serious. Some patients may develop endocarditis, reactive arthritis, or high blood pressure after full recovery.
