Amanda Yeager
Baltimore Sun
(TNS)
Howard County Health Department officials believe the food that sent dozens of people to the hospital with suspected food poisoning Monday was prepared by an employee of the Jessup facility where the incident occurred.
“Preliminary indications are that the illness is related to outside food prepared by an employee and shared with others at the facility,” the department said in a Tuesday afternoon statement, adding that officials are “not aware of any risk of further illnesses connected to this incident.”
First responders took 46 people to hospitals Monday with suspected food poisoning, Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Samantha Stanton said Monday.
In a release, Howard fire officials said all of the victims became ill after “allegedly eating the same food” at a business in the 7700 block of Chesapeake Bay Court in Jessup. None of the patients was in critical condition, officials said.
In a phone call Tuesday, an office staffer at NAFCO Wholesale Fish Dealers, a seafood distributor at 7775 Chesapeake Bay Court, acknowledged that people who became ill were employees of the company. The staff member, who did not give their name, declined to comment further and said a statement would be released later in the day.
The Howard County health department said it is working with the Maryland Department of Health and “other partners” to investigate the cause of the incident, and will offer more updates as information becomes available.
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