Reports have emerged of a new disease outbreak from raw onions. More than a hundred people in the United States have fallen ill in an outbreak of salmonella bacteria from the onions. Reports in the US media, including The New York Times, say more than a hundred people in at least 37 US states have fallen ill.

It has been reported that 652 people fell ill between 31 May and 30 September, of whom 129 were treated in hospital. No deaths have been reported. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the real number of cases is much higher, because the authorities do not know about many of them. The CDC has advised people not to use unlabelled red, white and yellow onions to avoid salmonella infection.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said an investigation is under way and has, for now, advised people not to eat raw onions.

Symptoms include diarrhoea, fever and stomach pain, and usually appear between six hours and six days after eating contaminated food. Most people recover within four to seven days without specific treatment. Children, the elderly and people with weak immunity, however, may be at risk from the infection.

Source: Bangladesh Pratidin. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.