A frozen cooked shrimp Salmonella outbreak has ended with six illnesses and two hospitalizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today. The shrimp was imported by Avanti Frozen Foods of India and sold under the brand names 365, Censea, Chicken of the Sea, CWNO, Hannaford, Honest Catch, Meijer, Open Acres, and Waterfront Bistro.
Salmonella don’t live in the intestines of fish, crustaceans, or mollusks. When seafood is contaminated with Salmonella it’s because the water where it was grown was contaminated with human or animal fecal contamination or it had contact with human or animal feces during processing.
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Salmonella Illnesses from Cooked Imported Shrimp
Four people in Nevada and two people in Arizona who ate the imported shrimp developed Salmonella Weltevreden infections. They ranged in age from 30 to 80 years old.
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, and abdominal cramps. These symptoms usually develop within six to 72 hours of eating contaminated food. For people sickened in this outbreak, symptoms first appeared on dates ranging from February 26, 2021, to April 25, 2021.
Shrimp Salmonella Outbreak Investigation Timeline
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates seafood, issued a recap of its investigation today. Here are the dates of key developments:
January 26, 2021 – A sample of Avanti Frozen Foods cooked shrimp was collected as a routine part of the FDA’s Imported Seafood Compliance Program. Tests showed the presence of Salmonella Weltevreden. No illnesses associated with that strain had been reported at that time.
March 2021 – A shipment from Avanti Foods made its way to the U.S. Because of the positive test for Salmonella, the FDA refused its admission, and the product was destroyed. Avanti was added to the Import Alert list.
April 2021 – Three Salmonella Weltevreden illnesses appear on the CDC’s national subtyping database. Genetic fingerprints of the strain cultured from all three people match, indicating they were sickened by the same source. The fingerprint also matches the one from the shrimp the FDA tested in January.
June 25, 2021 – Six illnesses have been confirmed, CDC announces the outbreak. During interviews with health officials, these patients reported eating shrimp before they became ill. The FDA used the patients’ purchasing dates and locations to identify a common shipment of shrimp that had been sold thawed at retail but was past expiration and no longer on the market.
Avanti issued a recall for Chicken of the Sea, Whole Foods, Meijer, and other brands of frozen cooked shrimp.
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Experienced Salmonella Lawyers
If you contracted a Salmonella Weltevreden infection and have evidence linking your illness to pre-cooked shrimp, you may have a claim. For a free consultation with an experienced Salmonella lawyer, please contact the Pritzker Hageman Salmonella Legal Team. We have represented clients in every major Salmonella outbreak in the U.S. You can reach us by calling 1-888-377-8900, sending a text to 612-261-0856, or by completing the form below. There is no obligation and we don’t get paid unless we win.