Salmonella infection can be caused by consumption of contaminated raw tuna, according to findings presented at the combined annual meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

Although most Salmonella outbreaks have been linked to poultry, the Hawaii Department of Health studied 35 cases of Salmonella that arose from October 2007 to February 2008 and found that 86% of these patients had consumed raw fish in the 7 days before they got sick. In most cases, ahi, which is often made from imported frozen tuna, was the reported fish consumed. In April 2008, eight of the nine cases of Salmonella infection reported in the mainland United States also involved consumption of raw tuna.

In comparison with the thousands of tons of fish imported into the United States and consumed every month, these outbreaks are very small. However, they should raise awareness that consumption of any raw meat product, including fish, carries a risk for Salmonella infection.