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Chris Fronzak, lead singer for the heavy metal band Attila, had to perform several nights last month despite a serious salmonella infection from eating tainted tuna.

When heavy metal singer Chris Fronzak dubbed his latest gig “The Sick Tour,” he didn’t mean it literally.

But by the time the 22-year-old frontman for the band Attila was done with his multi-state concert series, he knew only too well what it meant to be stricken with gut-wrenching salmonella poisoning -- and to still have to strut and scream onstage.

“It was the worst,” recalled the performer known as “Fronz” to his fans and friends. “I was very miserable.”

Fronzak is among at least 258 people sickened by an outbreak of two rare strains of salmonella linked to sushi and other foods made from contaminated tuna.

Seattle law firm Marler Clark, which specializes in foodborne illnesses, filed a lawsuit on Fronzak's behalf Thursday in U.S. district court in Portland, Ore., where the singer lives.

He’s among the first people to sue Moon Marine USA Corp. of Cupertino, Calif., the firm that last month recalled 58,828 pounds of frozen Nakaochi Scrape, tuna bits gleaned from the backbones of the fish.

Government health officials have linked the Moon Marine tuna to the outbreak of salmonella Bareilly and salmonella Nchanga infections that have put at least 32 people in the hospital.

Fronzak says the culprit is a spicy tuna roll he ate on April 10 in Metairie, La. Thirty hours later, he was in a different state and nearly flattened by vomiting, diarrhea, fever, cramps and more. He spent six days trying to treat the illness himself, traveling in a tour bus and performing nearly nightly shows.

“[Cancelling] would have cost the band several thousand dollars,” said Fronzak. “It left me with no choice.”

Attila, which formed in Atlanta in 2005, has put out several albums, including "Outlawed." Fronzak said the group should be described as "a party metal band." "It's not dark music or anything," he said.

Fronzak's illness got so bad he finally went to an emergency room on a tour stop in Kansas City, Mo., where doctors treated him for pain and performed tests that finally revealed the problem: salmonella poisoning. But it was still several days and several more states before Fronzak got an antibiotic that started to help.

“Before I knew I had salmonella, I honestly thought I had stomach ulcers or liver failure from alcohol,” he Tweeted from his account @Fronz1lla on April 29.

Fronzak said he decided to sue because he has a family -- including a 7-month-old son, Blaise – and no health insurance. He doesn’t think he should be stuck with all the bills, like the $9,872 tab from the hospital in Missouri. He posted that on Twitter, too, with an unprintable hashtag.

“I’m not at fault for any of that,” Fronzak said. “I feel like I’ve been done wrong and I deserve compensation.”

Fronzak is not alone. Government food safety officials estimate that for every salmonella infection they hear about, 29.3 go unreported. Using that multiplier, the tainted tuna may have sickened as many as 7,558 other people.

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Dozens of Kansas high school students and chaperones were being treated for symptoms of food poisoning Wednesday at a hospital in Mount Pleasant, Pa., after a band trip to New York, the hospital said.

About 160 students and chaperones made the trip on three buses to New York from De Soto High School, just across the Kansas border from Kansas City, Mo. They were returning home Wednesday morning when about 40 students, ages 13 to 18, and 10 adults fell ill.

The students and chaperones were being treated at Excela Frick Hospital in Mount Pleasant, about 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, NBC station WPXI of Pittsburgh reported. The Pennsylvania and New York state health departments were both investigating because the members of the caravan became ill after having eaten at an Italian restaurant in New York City on Tuesday evening.

"The common factor seems to be the chicken Parmesan," Alvie Cater, a spokesman for the De Soto School District, told the Kansas City Star.

"Roughly 25 were treated at the hospital, but more than that actually displayed symptoms," Cater said. "We're looking at up to 50 that displayed symptoms, but some of them were not severe at all."

The hospital said most of the victims were treated for severe dehydration and were expected to be back on the road later Wednesday.

NBC station WPXI of Pittsburgh contributed to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

Related: 

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At least 12 people in five states have been sickened by a rare strain of E. coli linked to raw clover sprouts served at Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches restaurants, federal health officials reported Wednesday.

The victims fell ill in late December and mid-January, apparently after they ate clover sprouts grown from seeds contaminated with E. coli O26. That strain is similar to, but not as common as the E. coli O157:H7 often associated with illness outbreaks caused by ground beef.

More victims may be pending, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated.

Traceback information has identified a common lot of clover seeds used to grow the sprouts, CDC officials said. The strain of E. coli O126 has rarely been identified before in PulseNet, the CDC’s surveillance tool.

The bacteria responsible for the Jimmy Johns outbreak are part of a group known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC, which make poisons that can cause severe disease, including bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which can be fatal.

A widespread outbreak of another non-O157 STEC was responsible for devastating illnesses in Europe last summer, a crisis eventually traced to contaminated sprout seeds.

In the current outbreak, victims were sickened in five states, including five in Iowa, three in Missouri, two in Kansas and one each in Arkansas and Wisconsin, the CDC said.

Ill people ranged between 9 and 49 years old; all were female. Among the 12 sickened, 2 were hospitalized. Illnesses were reported between Dec. 25, 2011 and Jan. 15, 2012.

Illnesses that occurred after Jan. 27 might not have been logged yet because of the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the case is reported.

This is the fourth outbreak tied to sprouts served at Jimmy Johns restaurants. Previous outbreaks were logged in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to CDC reports.

Health officials confirmed Friday that a fast-acting gut bug known as norovirus is responsible for an outbreak of illness that sickened more than 200 people gathered for a cheerleading championship in Washington state last weekend.

Results of state laboratory tests showed that that the nasty group of viruses caused the short-but-severe vomiting and diarrhea that affected some people who participated in and attended the state championship and Salute to Spirit cheerleading, dance and drill team event held in Everett, Wash. Norovirus is typically spread through person-to-person contact.

The outbreak was likely precipitated by people who were ill in public, said Suzanne Pate, spokeswoman for the Snohomish Health District.

"Somebody arrived at the event sick," said Pate, noting that janitorial crews were called to clean up vomit in a restroom and on an adjacent walkway. Those areas were likely exposure sites for the cheer and dance teams, she said.

Some 229 people were sickened and least 33 people sought medical attention for their illnesses, state health officials said late Friday. That number is expected to grow as the investigation continues.

More than 3,000 people attended the event Feb. 4, which included more than 1,000 competitors at the Comcast Arena, a popular venue for large gatherings.

A Comcast Arena spokeswoman said officials had sanitized the premises in accordance with federal health guidelines before a new event scheduled for Friday night. Tests of the arena's water supply showed no problems, Pate said.

"It's probably the best-scrubbed place in the county," she added.

State health officials are conducting an online survey of 2000 event participants and their families to identify a common source of illness. Participants have until Feb. 13 to submit the surveys, and results should be available soon after that.

About 20 million cases of gastrointestinal illness are caused by noroviruses each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thorough hand-washing with hot water and soap and immediate sanitizing of contaminated surfaces and clothing is recommended to prevent the spread of the bug. If symptoms last longer than 48 hours, people should seek medical care.

Cheerleading camps or competitions have been the source of previous outbreaks, including a 2002 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Eastern Washington.

Related:

Nearly 200 sick at cheerleading competition

By Msnbc.com staff and wire

Nearly 200 people reported getting sick after attending the Salute to Spirit and State Cheerleading Championships at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Wash., last weekend, according to KING 5 News.

Washington state health officials said they were investigating and that people who'd attended the weekend high school cheerleading competition began reporting vomiting or diarrhea on Sunday and Monday.

"At least 19 squads are reporting high numbers of illnesses," Kate Lynch, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Health, told Reuters. She said 1,200 cheerleaders from 45 high schools participated in the event about 30 miles northeast of Seattle.

Health officials said they learned of the outbreak, which has flu-like symptoms similar to those found in the illnesses norovirus, rotavirus or a food-borne illness, on Tuesday.

More than 3,000 people attended the event, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association said in a statement. "Our immediate concerns are for those who have been affected by this illness and our thoughts are with them," Mike Colbrese, the association's executive director, said in a statement.

Cheerleaders at Seattle's Ballard High School said nearly half their squad became sick.

Ballard cheerleader Summer Gnoinski told KING 5, "I threw up every hour on the hour." Her sister, Karly, who did not get sick, calls herself "one of the lucky ones."

Assistant cheerleading coach Michelle Whelan says until they know what's going on, she's taking extra precautions. "I'm not letting the girls use pom-poms, signs, flags or anything else that was at the competition until we can disinfect them."

Twenty-eight people are now dead after contracting listeria infections tied to contaminated cantaloupe, federal health officials reported Tuesday.

A total of 133 people have been sickened by the outbreak, which continues to claim victims more than a month after fresh, whole melons grown and packed at Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo., were recalled, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Dirty equipment, poor sanitation and bad storage techniques were blamed for the outbreak, which has led to illnesses in 26 states, federal Food and Drug Administration officials announced last week. Members of Congress have asked Jensen Farm owners to appear at a staff briefing likely scheduled for next week and to bring all relevant documents from the outbreak.

Deaths tied to the listeria-tainted cantaloupe have been reported in a dozen states, including seven in Colorado, five in New Mexico, three in Kansas, two each in Louisiana, Missouri, New York and Texas and one each in Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Four illnesses were related to pregnancy, with one illness diagnosed in a newborn and one miscarriage reported.