Hundreds of people in the United States have fallen sick after a salmonella outbreak potentially linked to unlabelled red, white and yellow onions. Consequently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have asked people to throw away their onions imported from Mexico as the health regulators believe that the salmonella outbreak is linked to the imports.

What is the salmonella?

A salmonella is a group of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness and fever called salmonellosis. Salmonella can potentially be transmitted from animals to humans. Salmonella illness can spread if people come in direct contact with some animals such as chickens and reptiles and then don’t wash their hands properly prior to handling food. In such cases, the bacteria can easily transmit from animals to humans via food.

The onion connection

The US Food and Drug Administration has said that one of the sources of the recent infection could me onions imported from Chihuahua in Mexico, and distributed by ProSource Inc. The company has agreed to recall all red, white and yellow onions imported from the State of Chihuahua, Mexico between July 1 and August 27.

Symptoms of salmonella illness

Most people infected with salmonella develop symptoms 12 to 72 hours after infection. Salmonellosis is a four to seven-day sickness that most people recover from without medication. In contrast, it is especially dangerous for children under the age of five, adults over the age of 65, and people with weakened immune systems.

Salmonellosis causes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pains in the majority of persons, according to the FDA. Severe cases related to salmonellosis include high temperature, headaches, lethargy, blood in the urine or stool, and even fatal in certain situations. Even though no deaths have been reported, the epidemic has spread across more than three dozen states.

The current outbreak

According to US media sources, more than 600 individuals have been ill, and 129 have been sent to hospitals across 37 states in the United States.

“Interviews with patients affected revealed that 75% of people ate or may have eaten raw onions or consumed food presumably that contained raw onions before falling ill,” according to the CDC.