The following has been provided by the Whatcom County Health Department.
Since July 1st, Whatcom County has seen an abnormally high number of cases of Salmonella infection. It is unknown if these cases are related to a recent recall of red onions.
This morning the FDA issued a notice of a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Newport infections. This outbreak has sickened almost 400 people from 34 states and is also linked to an outbreak of S. Newport in Canada. The outbreak is being investigated by the FDA, along with CDC, state and local partners, is investigating the outbreak.
Advice for consumers, restaurants, and retailers:
- Do not eat, sell, or serve red, white, yellow, or sweet onions from Thomson International, Inc. or products which may have them in it.
- If you have onions and you are not sure where they came from, throw them or any products with onions from Thomson International, Inc. away.
- Use extra diligence cleaning surfaces and containers which may have come in contact with the potentially contaminated onions, including cutting boards, slices, countertops, refrigerators, and storage bins.
Severe cases of salmonella can be fatal so if you have symptoms of salmonella you should contact your healthcare provider.