2020 Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Peaches – Updates by Date
Final Update
Updated October 16, 2020 at 12:00 PM ET
This outbreak appears to be over. Recalled peaches should no longer be available in stores. Always choose and handle fruit safely to help prevent foodborne illness. Wash hands and food preparation surfaces before and after handling fruit.
August 27, 2020
CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, Canada, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to peaches.
As of August 27, 2020, a total of 78 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported from 12 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from June 29, 2020, to August 3, 2020. Ill people range in age from 1 to 92 years, with a median age of 44. Sixty-four percent of ill people are female. Of 67 ill people with available information, 23 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
Whole genome sequencing analysis of 32 bacterial isolates from ill people did not predict any antibiotic resistance. Standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory is underway.
Whole genome sequencing analysis shows that an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections in Canada is related genetically to this outbreak in the United States. This means that people in both of these outbreaks are likely to share a common source of infection.
Investigation of the Outbreak
Epidemiologic evidence indicates that peaches are the likely source of this outbreak. This investigation is ongoing to identify other retailers that may have sold contaminated peaches packed or supplied by Prima Wawona or Wawona Packing Company LLC.
In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 45 people with information, 38 (84%) reported eating fresh peaches in the week before their illness started. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 29 pages] of healthy people in which 20% reported eating peaches in the week before they were interviewed. Of the 31 people who reported information on how the peaches were packaged, 19 (61%) reported buying loose peaches and 12 (39%) reported buying pre-bagged peaches.
FDA’s traceback investigation is ongoing to identify the source of this outbreak and to determine if potentially contaminated product has been shipped to additional retailers.
Consumers should not eat any recalled peaches packed or supplied by Prima Wawona or Wawona Packing Company LLC.
CDC will provide updates when more information becomes available.
August 24, 2020
CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to peaches.
Since the initial food safety alert on August 19, 2020, new information suggests this outbreak involves other types of peaches in addition to those sold in bags.
As of August 19, 2020, a total of 68 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported from 9 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from June 29, 2020, to August 3, 2020. Ill people range in age from 1 to 92 years, with a median age of 39. Sixty-five percent of ill people are female. Of 47 ill people with available information, 14 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
Whole genome sequencing analysis of 10 bacterial isolates from ill people did not predict any antibiotic resistance. Standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory is underway.
Whole genome sequencing analysis shows that an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections in Canada is related genetically to this outbreak in the United States. This means that people in both of these outbreaks are likely to share a common source of infection.
Investigation of the Outbreak
Epidemiologic evidence indicates that peaches are the likely source of this outbreak. This investigation is ongoing to identify other retailers that may have sold contaminated peaches packed or supplied by Prima Wawona or Wawona Packing Company LLC.
In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 31 people with information, 27 (87%) reported eating peaches. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 29 pages] of healthy people in which 20% reported eating peaches in the week before they were interviewed.
Of the 19 people who reported information on how the peaches were packaged, 12 (63%) reported pre-bagged peaches and 7 (37%) reported loose peaches. Of the 12 people reporting pre-bagged peaches, 11 (92%) reported purchasing pre-bagged peaches from ALDI stores and 1 person (8%) reported purchasing from Target.
On August 23, 2020, officials in Canada linked their outbreak to peaches imported from the United States.
On August 22, 2020, Prima Wawona (Wawona Packing Company LLC) expanded its recall to include bulk, or loose, peaches. On August 21, 2020, the company recalled bagged peaches that were sold under several brand names at a variety of stores in multiple states.
FDA’s traceback investigation is ongoing to identify the source of this outbreak and to determine if potentially contaminated product has been shipped to additional retailers.
Consumers should not eat any recalled peaches packed or supplied by Prima Wawona or Wawona Packing Company LLC.
CDC will provide updates when more information becomes available.
August 21, 2020
CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to peaches.
Since the initial food safety alert on August 19, 2020, new information suggests this outbreak involves other types of peaches in addition to those sold in bags.
As of August 19, 2020, a total of 68 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported from 9 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from June 29, 2020, to August 3, 2020. Ill people range in age from 1 to 92 years, with a median age of 39. Sixty-five percent of ill people are female. Of 47 ill people with available information, 14 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
Whole genome sequencing analysis of 10 bacterial isolates from ill people did not predict any antibiotic resistance. Standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory is underway.
Investigation of the Outbreak
Epidemiologic evidence indicates that peaches are the likely source of this outbreak. This investigation is ongoing to identify other retailers that may have sold contaminated peaches packed or supplied by Wawona Packing Company LLC.
In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 31 people with information, 27 (87%) reported eating peaches. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 29 pages] of healthy people in which 20% reported eating peaches in the week before they were interviewed.
Of the 19 people who reported information on how the peaches were packaged, 12 (63%) reported pre-bagged peaches and 7 (37%) reported loose peaches. Of the 12 people reporting pre-bagged peaches, 11 (92%) reported purchasing pre-bagged peaches from ALDI stores and 1 person (8%) reported purchasing from Target.
On August 21, 2020, Wawona Packing Company LLC recalled bagged peaches that were sold under several brand names at a variety of stores in multiple states.
On August 19, 2020, ALDI recalled [PDF – 2 pages] peaches and removed them from stores in multiple states.
On August 19, 2020, Target recalled multiple varieties of fresh peaches and removed them from U.S. stores.
FDA’s traceback investigation is ongoing to identify the source of this outbreak and to determine if potentially contaminated product has been shipped to additional retailers.
Consumers should not eat any recalled peaches packed or supplied by Wawona Packing Company LLC.
CDC will provide updates when more information becomes available.
August 19, 2020
CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to bagged peaches. Many ill people report purchasing bagged peaches sold at certain ALDI stores in several states. This investigation is ongoing to identify other retailers that might have sold contaminated peaches.
Public health investigators are using the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that may be part of this outbreak. PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC. DNA fingerprinting is performed on Salmonella bacteria isolated from ill people by using a standardized laboratory and data analysis method called whole genome sequencing (WGS). CDC PulseNet manages a national database of these sequences that are used to identify possible outbreaks. WGS gives investigators detailed information about the bacteria causing illness. In this investigation, WGS showed that bacteria isolated from ill people were closely related genetically. This means that people in this outbreak are more likely to share a common source of infection.
As of August 19, 2020, a total of 68 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported from 9 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Map of Reported Cases page.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from June 29, 2020, to August 3, 2020. Ill people range in age from 1 to 92 years, with a median age of 39. Sixty-five percent of ill people are female. Of 47 ill people with available information, 14 hospitalizations have been reported. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of Salmonella Infection for more details.
Whole genome sequencing analysis of 10 isolates from ill people did not predict any antibiotic resistance. Standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory is underway.
Investigation of the Outbreak
Epidemiologic evidence indicates that bagged peaches are a likely source of this outbreak. Many ill people report purchasing bagged peaches sold at certain ALDI stores in several states.
In interviews, ill people answered questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 31 people with information, 27 (87%) reported eating peaches. This percentage is significantly higher than results from a survey [PDF – 29 pages] of healthy people in which 20 percent reported eating peaches in the week before they were interviewed.
Of the 19 people who reported information on how the peaches were packaged, 12 (63%) reported pre-bagged peaches. Of the 12 people reporting pre-bagged peaches, 10 (83%) reported purchasing pre-bagged peaches from ALDI stores.
On August 19, 2020, ALDI voluntarily recalled [PDF – 2 pages] peaches and removed them from their store shelves in multiple states. ALDI is participating in efforts to determine the source of contamination.
Consumers should not eat any recalled Wawona-brand bagged peaches purchased from ALDI locations in Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, until we learn more. This investigation is ongoing to determine if other products or retailers are linked to illness.
CDC will provide updates when more information becomes available.
