Follow-Up: CDC Confirms Oysters Made People Sick as Salmonella Outbreak Reaches 28 Cases in 13 States
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its investigation of the Virginia raw oyster Salmonella outbreak on October 30: cases of Salmonella Telelkebir linked to oysters from the Little Wicomico River harvest area rose to 28 people in 13 states, one more person and one more state — Indiana — than in the first notice on October 19. Five people have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.
The key change is the wording. On October 19, the CDC said the oysters may be contaminated and may be making people sick. The October 30 update states that epidemiologic, laboratory and traceback data show oysters harvested by the Little Wicomico Oyster Company from the Little Wicomico River harvest area made people sick in this outbreak.
Illnesses began between May 29 and October 6. The October 6 onset falls inside the company's recalled harvest window of September 18 to October 8. Of 14 people interviewed, 11 (79%) reported eating raw oysters in the week before they got sick, compared with 1.6% of healthy people in the CDC's FoodNet Population Survey.
The laboratory link has also closed: Virginia health officials collected oysters from the company's cages in the river on October 13, and whole genome sequencing showed some samples carry the same strain making people sick. A Pennsylvania oyster sample earlier flagged as positive turned out to be a different Salmonella type that does not match cases in this outbreak.
The CDC says recalled oysters should be past their shelf life and no longer on the market, and that oysters are not being harvested from the Little Wicomico River harvest area at this time. The recall covers shellstock oysters harvested September 18 through October 8, which were distributed to restaurants and retailers in multiple states. The CDC notes that recent illnesses usually take three to four weeks to be counted, so the true number of sick people is likely higher. A broader count previously reported by Virginia health officials (55 cases in 19 states) remains under separate investigation and uses a different case definition from the CDC's confirmed genetic subgroup.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：冰镇生蚝资料图。公共领域图片，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Raw oysters served on ice, file photo. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-20CDC and FDA Investigate Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Raw Oysters: 27 Sickened in 12 States; Virginia Company Recalls Oysters Harvested September 18 to October 8
- 2026-10-22Follow-Up: Virginia Counts 55 Illnesses in Oyster Salmonella Outbreak Across 19 States, Above CDC's Figure of 27
- 2026-10-30Follow-Up: First Lawsuit in Oyster Salmonella Outbreak as Colorado Woman Sues Whole Foods and Virginia Oyster Company
- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: CDC Confirms Oysters Made People Sick as Salmonella Outbreak Reaches 28 Cases in 13 StatesThis story
