Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
Note: Not all recalls and alerts result in an outbreak of foodborne illness. Check recent Food Recalls and Safety Alerts.
The following is a list of outbreak and adverse event investigations primarily being managed by FDA’s CORE Response Teams. The investigations are in a variety of stages, meaning that some have limited information, while others may be near completion.
A public health advisory will be issued for investigations that have resulted in specific, actionable steps for consumers to take to protect themselves. Please direct your attention to those pages for the most up to date information on the investigation and for consumer protection information.
Outbreak and adverse event investigations that do not result in specific, actionable steps for consumers may or may not conclusively identify a source or reveal any contributing factors. Adverse event investigations rely on self-reported data. Although these reports may name a particular product, FDA will only indicate a product category in the table and will not publicly name a specific product until there is sufficient evidence to implicate that product as a cause of illnesses or adverse events. If a cause and/or contributing factors are identified that could inform future prevention, FDA commits to providing a summary of those findings.
What's New
- An outbreak of Salmonella Mississippi (ref# 1097) in a not yet identified product has been added to the table and FDA has initiated traceback.
- For the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak (ref# 1081) in a not yet identified food, sample collection and analysis have been initiated.
- For the Salmonella Senftenberg outbreak (ref# 1087) in a not yet identified food, the case count has increased from 22 to 25 cases.
- For the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak (ref# 1095) in a not yet identified food, the case count has increased from 62 to 73 cases, an on-site inspection and sample collection and analysis has been initiated.
- For the Cyclospora outbreak (ref# 1080) the case count has increased from 70 to 75.
- For the Cyclospora outbreak (ref# 1084), the case count has increased from 41 to 42.
- For the Salmonella Braenderup outbreak (ref# 1075), the case count increased from 74 to 75.
- For the outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes (ref# 1057) linked to ice cream, FDA initiated an on-site inspection.
Date Posted |
Reference # |
Pathogen or Cause of Illness |
Product(s) Linked to Illnesses (if any) |
Total Case Count |
Investigation Status |
Outbreak/Event Status |
Recall Initiated |
Traceback Initiated |
On-Site Inspection Initiated |
Sample Collection & Analysis Initiated |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8/31/2022 | 1097 | Salmonella Mississippi |
Not Yet Identified | 99 | Active | Ongoing See Advice |
✔ | |||
8/17/2022 | 1081 | E. coli O157:H7 |
Not Yet Identified | See CDC Investigation Notice | Active |
Ongoing |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
8/17/2022 | 1087 | Salmonella Senftenberg |
Not Yet Identified | 25 | Active | Ongoing See Advice |
✔ | |||
8/17/2022 | 1095 | Salmonella Typhimurium |
Not Yet Identified | 73 | Active | Ongoing See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
8/3/2022 | 1080 | Cyclospora | Not Yet Identified | 75 | Active | Ongoing See Advice |
✔ | |||
7/27/2022 | 1084 | Cyclospora | Not Yet Identified | 42 | Active | Ongoing See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ||
6/29/2022 | 1076 | Not Yet Identified | Frozen Food | See Outbreak Advisory |
Active | Ongoing See Outbreak Advisory |
See Outbreak Advisory |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
6/22/2022 | 1075 | Salmonella Braenderup |
Not Yet Identified | 75 | Active | Ended See Advice |
✔ | |||
6/22/2022 | 1072 | Salmonella Paratyphi B var. L(+) tartrate+ |
Not Identified | 14 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | |||
6/15/2022 | 1070 | Listeria monocytogenes |
Not Identified | 12 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | |||
6/8/2022 | 1068 | E. coli O157:H7 |
Not Identified | 10 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | |||
6/1/2022 | 1066 | Strawberries | See Outbreak Advisory |
Closed | Ended See Outbreak Advisory |
✔ | ✔ | |||
5/25/2022 | 1067 |
Salmonella |
Peanut Butter | See Outbreak Advisory | Closed |
Ended |
See Outbreak Advisory | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
4/20/2022 | 1064 | Not Yet Identified |
Dry Cereal | 558 adverse event reports |
Active | Ongoing See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ||
4/13/2022 | 1057 | Listeria monocytogenes |
Ice Cream | See Outbreak Advisory | Active | Ongoing See Outbreak Advisory |
See Outbreak Advisory | ✔ | ✔ | |
3/30/2022 | 1060 | None Identified |
Meal Replacement Drink |
6 adverse event reports |
Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ||
3/16/2022 | 1055 | Salmonella Saintpaul |
Not Identified | 60 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | |||
2/17/2022 | 1056 | Cronobacter sakazakii |
Powdered Infant Formula |
See Advisory |
Active (IMG) | Ended See Advisory |
See Advisory |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
2/9/2022 | 1040 | Listeria monocytogenes |
Not Identified | 20 | Closed | Ongoing See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
2/2/2022 | 1054 | Enteroinvasive E. coli O143:H26 |
Not Identified |
16 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | |||
1/10/2022 | 1050 | E. coli O121:H19 |
Romaine | 4 | Closed | Ended | ✔ |
1 This cluster represents a subset of the total number of domestically-acquired cases of cyclosporiasis cases in the U.S.
2 Based on CDC’s epidemiological investigation of two large multistate outbreaks of cyclosporiasis, ill people reported eating a variety of leafy greens before becoming sick. For both investigations, CDC, FDA, and state and local partners conducted epidemiologic and traceback investigations and collected and analyzed product and environmental samples. All samples collected were reported as negative for Cyclospora. Due to the lack of additional detail in the epidemiological data and the absence of supporting evidence collected from traceback and sample collection, FDA could not identify a specific product as the source of either outbreak.
Date Posted |
Reference # |
Pathogen |
Product(s) Linked to Illnesses (if any) |
Total Case Count |
Investigation Status |
Outbreak Status |
Recall Initiated |
Traceback Initiated |
On-Site Inspection Initiated |
Sample Collection & Analysis Initiated |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12/23/2020 | 11 | Salmonella Potsdam |
Not Identified | 7 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
11/18/2020 | E-441626 |
E. coli |
Leafy Greens | Closed |
Ended |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
11/18/2020 | 5 | E. coli O157:H7 |
Not Identified | Closed |
Ended |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
11/18/2020 | 7 | E. coli O157:H7 |
Not Identified | Closed | Ended See Outbreak Advisory |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
11/18/2020 | E-439945 | Salmonella Newport |
Not Identified | 80 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
11/18/2020 | 4 | Salmonella Paratyphi B |
Not Identified | 18 | Closed | Ended MN Release See Advice |
✔ | ✔ | ||
11/18/2020 | E-442972 | Salmonella Thompson |
Not Identified | 34 | Closed | Ended See Advice |
✔ | |||
11/18/2020 | E-435502 | Salmonella Enteritidis |
Peaches | Closed | Ended See Outbreak Advisory |
See Outbreak Advisory |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Related Links
Table Definitions:
- Date Posted: Date the investigation is posted to the table. This happens once CORE begins to actively coordinate an investigation. In collaboration with federal and state partners, CORE initiates response activities to control the outbreak or adverse events.
- Reference Number: This number is assigned to incidents that CORE is working on. Each foodborne illness investigation on the table will have a unique reference number and this is provided to help users of this table differentiate between investigations. Those reference numbers beginning with an “E” have carried over from an older numbering system that will not be used by CORE in the future.
- Pathogen or Cause of Illness: A bacterium, virus, other microorganism, toxin, or other contaminant that can cause disease.
- Product(s) Linked to Illnesses (if any): During an outbreak or adverse event investigation, the FDA and CDC, along with state and local authorities collect and analyze three types of information: epidemiological information, laboratory analyses of food and/or samples taken from food production environments, and traceback investigation findings. Each outbreak or adverse event is unique and the information available to investigators varies from outbreak to outbreak – however, through rigorous analysis of the information collected, investigators are often able to identify a likely or confirmed food source of an outbreak or adverse events. It is important to note that before a specific food is linked to an outbreak or adverse events, the investigation of a commodity or a specific food by the FDA, CDC and state and local partners does not mean that the food is the cause of an outbreak or adverse events. In many cases the investigation is also looking to rule out specific foods even as it identifies the particular suspect. If there is evidence that a specific food is linked to illnesses, it will be reflected here and health authorities will warn the public about that food.
- Total Case Count: Updated weekly. For outbreak investigations, the case count is provided to the FDA by the CDC. Case counts are dynamic and the exact number of illnesses constantly changes during an investigation. This number is provided in order to provide an estimate of the size of an outbreak each week. In the case of adverse event investigations, FDA will provide the number of adverse events that have been self-reported by consumers to FDA consumer complaint coordinators and the CFSAN Adverse Event Reporting System (CAERS), which could include duplicate reports. More formalized data will be published in CDC Investigation Notices or in FDA and CDC advisories, should they be posted.
- Investigation Status: Communicates whether this outbreak is still under investigation by CORE or the investigational activities have ended. Options for this column would be either “Active” or “Closed”. At times an FDA investigation may be active after an outbreak has ended.
- Outbreak/Event Status: Communicates whether this outbreak or series of adverse event reports is ongoing or has ended.
- Recall Initiated: A recall occurs when a firm takes a product off the market because there is reason to believe that it may cause consumers to become ill. In some situations, FDA may request the company recall a potentially contaminated food. In other situations, FDA may issue a mandatory recall if there is a reasonable probability that the food is adulterated under certain FDA authorities, and that the food could cause serious illnesses or death.
- Traceback Initiated: Used to identify the source and distribution of the implicated food and remove the contaminated product from the marketplace, to distinguish between two or more implicated food products, and to determine potential routes and/or sources of contamination in order to prevent future illnesses.
- On-site Inspection Initiated: Includes, among other things, a review of operational processes and samples are collected from food products or the environments where the food was grown, processed, transported or stored (countertops, equipment, bins etc.).
- Collection & Analysis of Samples Initiated: collection and analysis of samples for the presence or absence of a pathogen in a food or in the environment surrounding the food.
Who to Contact if you Have Symptoms of Foodborne Illness
Consumers who have symptoms of foodborne illness should contact their health care provider to report their symptoms and receive care.
To report a complaint or adverse event (illness or serious allergic reaction), you have three choices:
- Call an FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator if you wish to speak directly to a person about your problem.
- Complete an electronic Voluntary MedWatch form online.
- Complete a paper Voluntary MedWatch form that can be mailed to FDA.
Visit www.fda.gov/fcic for additional consumer and industry assistance.