Diamond Pet Foods, a Missouri-based firm, has recalled three brands of dry dog food for potential salmonella contamination linked to illness in people.

At least 14 people in nine states have been sickened by a rare strain of salmonella linked to contaminated dry dog food, government health officials reported.

Some of the human salmonella Infantis infections appeared to be tied to at least three recalled brands of dry dog food produced at a single South Carolina plant operated by Diamond Pet Foods of Meta, Mo.

People could have become ill after handling the contaminated dry food or after contact with animals that had eaten the food. Anyone who may have become sick after such contact should consult a health care provider, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised.

Diamond Pet Foods’ first recall was issued on April 6, when company officials voluntarily pulled select bags of Diamond Naturals Lamb Meal & Rice dry dog food.

On April 26, certain bags of Diamond Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul Adult Light Formula dog food was recalled, followed by a recall on April 30 of select bags of Diamond Puppy Formula dry dog food.

At the time of the recalls, Diamond Pet Foods officials said that no human cases had been reported.

Michigan agriculture officials detected the contamination in April in an unopened bag of the lamb meal dog food during a routine retail testing of dry pet food, according to a CDC report.  

CDC investigators later took evidence of the rare salmonella Infantis strain -- which is typically reported three or fewer times per month -- and then checked for human cases that matched the genetic fingerprint of the bacteria.

Interviews with ill people showed that seven of 10 ill people said they had contact with a dog in the week before getting sick. Of five ill people who recalled the type of dog food, four identified Diamond Pet Foods products.

Among ill people for whom information is available, illnesses began between Oct. 8, 2011 and April 22, 2012. Victims range in age from less than 1 year to 82, with a median age of 48. Among nine patients with available information, five were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Victims include three each in Missouri and North Carolina, two in Ohio and one each in Alabama, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Consumers should check their homes for recalled dog food and discard the products promptly.

Pet owners should wash their hands thoroughly after contact with pets and their food.

Symptoms of salmonella typically include vomiting, diarrhea, cramping and fever. They usually resolve within a week, but in serious cases, some patients require hospitalization.

The CDC estimates that for every case of salmonella reported, 29.3 go undetected. Using that multiplier, at least 410 people may have been sickened by the contaminated pet food.

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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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North Carolina health officials have confirmed that tempeh contaminated with a rare strain of salmonella is responsible for an outbreak of food poisoning that has sickened at least 46 people. 

The Buncombe County Department of Health announced that the outbreak strain of Paratyphi B salmonella is the same as that detected in packages of tempeh recalled May 1 by Smiling Hara of Asheville, N.C. 

Smiling Hara voluntarily recalled 12-ounce packages of unpasteurized soybean tempeh produced between Jan. 11 and April 11. The containers are marked with a best-by date of July 11, 2012 through Oct. 25, 2012. Tempeh is a meat substitute used in vegetarian cuisine.

“Anyone with this product in their possession should not eat it,” North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a statement. “Smiling Hara launched the recall after samples collected by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services during a routine inspection tested positive for salmonella.”

At least seven people have been hospitalized because of illness. Victims range in age from 4 to 79, health officials said. No deaths have been reported.

Those who are sick include people who ate tempeh, people who had contact with food items contaminated by the tempeh, and those connected to those who became ill. In this outbreak, new cases are continuing to be spread by person-to-person contact. 

Health officials urged residents to seek medical care if they've consumed the tempeh and develop symptoms of salmonella poisoning, including diarrhea, fever, headache and cramping that usually begins one to 10 days after exposure. The infection typically lasts four to seven days, but can last longer. 

More cases of salmonella poisoning may be detected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that for every case actually reported, 29.3 cases actually occur. Using that multiplier, as many as 1,348 people may have become ill in this outbreak.

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Tainted tuna scraped from the backbone of the fish has been implicated in salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 200 people in 21 states and Washington, D.C.

At least 258 people in 24 states and Washington, D.C., now have been sickened by raw scraped tuna contaminated with not one but two rare strains of salmonella, government health officials reported Thursday.

Tainted tuna scraped from the backbone of the fish has been linked not only to the salmonella Bareilly strain, but also to salmonella Nchanga infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The two genetic fingerprint patterns of the strains have been grouped into a single outbreak strain, CDC officials said.

At least 247 people have been confirmed with salmonella Bareilly infections, and another 11 have been infected with salmonella Nchanga. Thirty-two victims have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

A frozen yellowfin tun product, known as Nakaochi Scrape, produced by Moon Marine USA Corp. is the likely source of the outbreak.

In April, Moon Marine recalled 58,828 pounds of the frozen tuna product. It wasn't for sale to individual customers, but may have been used to make sushi, sashimi, ceviche and similar dishes in restaurants and grocery stores.

The outbreak could continue to grow. Illnesses that occured after March 27 might not be reported yet because of the time frame between when a person becomes ill and when it's reported to authorities.

At least two people have filed lawsuits against Moon Marine, a Cupertino, Calif., firm. The women, both from Wisconsin, said they became ill after eating tainted seafood.

The CDC's most recent estimates suggest that for every salmonella infection detected, perhaps 29.3 go unreported. Using that multiplier, 7,559 people may have been affected so far by the tainted tuna outbreak.

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Courtesy of Amy Karfonta

Amy Karfonta, a 22-year-old from Wisconsin, came down with salmonella symptoms days after eating a tuna roll at a sushi restaurant.

The first lawsuit spawned by a salmonella outbreak that appears to be linked to sushi -- which has now sickened 141 people in 20 states plus the District of Columbia -- was filed late Wednesday against Moon Marine U.S.A. Corp, a Cupertino, Calif., seafood importer.

The suit alleges that two Wisconsin women, ages 22 and 33, were hospitalized and still are recovering from salmonella poisoning contracted six to nine weeks ago when they dined, separately, at the same local restaurant, both consuming tuna rolls originally sold by Moon Marine.

“I was just in complete body pain from head to toe and the next day I got bloody diarrhea. I couldn’t even drink water,” said Amy Karfonta, 22, of Muskego, Wisc. Her symptoms appeared six days after she ate the suspect sushi. She then made two trips to local emergency rooms where doctors obtained a stool sample, re-hydrated her with intravenous fluids and examined her colon via a CT scan.

“When they saw how bad my colon was ulcerated, they first thought it could have been Crohn’s disease, or something where I may have had to have my colon removed at 22,” Karfonta said. Her most severe symptoms began to wane after the ER treatments.

The suit, filed by the Houston-based lawfirm Simon & Luke, with co-counsel the Gomez Law Firm, centers on a product called “Nakaochi Scrape” -- frozen backmeat shaved from fish bones and sold by Moon Marine to retailers and distributors across the nation. The “Scrape” wound up in nearly 60,000 pounds of raw, ground yellowfin tuna later recalled by Moon Marine after it was linked to hundreds of salmonella infections during the past two months.

A phone call made by msnbc.com to Moon Marine USA was routed to voicemail and the company did not immediately respond with a comment.

Nakaochi Scrape, injected inside tuna sushi rolls, “looks like ground tuna hamburger,” said Ron Simon, managing partner of Simon & Luke.

“The problem is this (Moon Marine) product got repackaged and resold. There are sushi restaurants that may not even know they’re serving this tuna; they may not even know it’s been recalled,” Simon said. “Also, it comes as a frozen product so it sits on the shelves for as long as six months.

“We’ve got 58,000 pounds of this stuff out there. That’s a lot of sushi -- 29 tons of scraped tuna back.”

Furious, on-the-ground detective work has been conducted, Simon said, to isolate the type of salmonella involved, find the 141 known victims of this outbreak, and determine the U.S. source of the tainted sushi. That work, executed in recent weeks by federal and state health agents, continues as authorities now work to retrace the overseas plant that originally produced this batch of Nakaochi Scrape.

More than 2,500 forms of salmonella are known to exist. When people come to doctor’s offices, clinics or hospitals complaining of severe abdominal pain and diarrhea, medical attendants typically obtain stool samples. Those specimens are sent to the state health departments for DNA typing to pinpoint which of the 2,500 salmonella strains the patients are harboring.

In this outbreak, the tests showed 141 ill sushi eaters all were hit with a rare type called salmonella bareilly, Simon said.

“It has a certain genetic code. When these people test positive, the health departments upload that DNA code into the computer that connects the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and all the other state health departments to see if anybody else has a genetic match. And bam, all of the sudden, there are 141 people that all share the same genetic code,” Simon said. “They are in 20 states and the District of Columbia.”

Health officials have interviewed many or most of those 141 people to ask what they ate the week before getting sick. Those answers also were uploaded into the national computer system -- “and I’ll say that about 80 percent recalled eating sushi,” Simon said. “The investigators dug a little deeper and found out everybody was eating spicy tuna rolls.”

This outbreak is uncommon, the lawyer added, because salmonella is routinely found in the guts of cattle, sheep, hens and infected humans -- not fish.

Simon’s second initial plaintiff is another Wisconsin woman, Amber Azzolina. She ate at the same local sushi restaurant on Feb. 14, consuming a spicy tuna roll, she told her lawyer. Two days later, Azzolina began feeling abdominal pain and passing bloody stools. Two days after that, her husband, Carmen, complained of a stomachache and headache. Amber Azzolina later spiked a fever of 101, was vomiting and still had bloody diarrhea nine days after that meal. On Feb. 23, she checked into a local emergency room where she was treated. 

For Amy Karfonta, the salmonella symptoms caused her to miss a planned physical and agility test to land a job with her local police department. She’s not sure, she said, when another opening at the department will occur.

Her health still has not fully restored, she added. She lost eight pounds due to the illness. She still faces a follow-up scope exam to determine how much her colon was damaged.

“That will be in late April because if there’s something still tender in there,” Karfonta said, “they don’t want to rupture it.”

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At least 100 people are reported ill in an outbreak of salmonella Bareilly that may be tied to sushi or other raw seafood.

At least 100 people have now been sickened by an outbreak of salmonella possibly linked to sushi, government health officials said Friday. Nearly a quarter of them are from New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ten people have been hospitalized in the outbreak of a rare strain of salmonella Bareilly that has affected victims in 19 states and the District of Columbia. No deaths have been reported.

Victims have ranged in age from 4 to 78, and include people who reported illness between Jan. 28 and March 23. Illnesses that occurred after March 8 might not be known because of the lag time between when people get sick and when they report it.

No food source has been positively identified, a CDC report said. However, initial interviews with 51 sick people show that 69 percent ate sushi, sashimi or similar foods in the week before they became ill. That compares with only about 5 percent of people in a control group who ate sushi, sashimi or ceviche made with raw fish or shellfish in the week before being interviewed.

The investigation into specific types of sushi that may be implicated is ongoing. An internal memo from the Food and Drug Administration inadvertently released earlier this week suggested that spicy tuna roll sushi was “highly suspect.”

The largest number of illnesses has been reported in New York, where 23 people were sickened.

Others include 10 in Maryland; nine in Illinois and Wisconsin; seven in New Jersey; five in Virginia and Connecticut; four each inGeorgia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island; three in South Carolina, Texas and Pennsylvania; two each in Alabama, Louisiana and North Carolina and the District of Columbia; and one each in Arkansas, Missouri and Mississippi.

Salmonella Bareilly is a rare strain sometimes associated with bean sprouts. Salmonella infections can cause nausea, vomiting, cramping, fever, chills and headache. Symptoms usually last four to seven days and typically resolve on their own. In some cases, however, patients have to be hospitalized.

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Federal health officials are investigating an outbreak of salmonella that may be tied to seafood and sushi.

Government health officials are investigating a growing outbreak of salmonella food poisoning possibly tied to restaurant sushi that may have sickened at least 93 people in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

The outbreak of salmonella Bareilly that may have sent at least 10 people to the hospital is mostly clustered on the eastern seaboard and the Gulf Coast, although cases have been reported as far west as Missouri and Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No deaths have been reported in the outbreak that includes reports of illness between Jan. 28 and March 23.

The outbreak was initially reported Tuesday in an internal memo inadvertently sent to everyone at the Food and Drug Administration, said Curtis Allen, an FDA spokesman.

Officials with CDC on Wednesday issued an update, but said that a food source had not been conclusively identified.

However, interviews by state public health officials showed that many of the ill people reported consuming sushi, sashimi, or similar foods in a variety of locations in the week before becoming ill. Among 51 ill people for whom information is available, 35 or 69 percent reported eating those foods in the week before becoming ill. That's higher than the results compared with a survey of healthy people in which only 5 percent reported eating those foods in the previous week.

The initial email identified spicy tuna roll sushi as “highly suspect,” but Allen emphasized that that was a preliminary speculation that may be proved wrong later. The CDC notice said the investigation into specific types of sushi is continuing.

The federal agencies are focusing on six restaurant clusters in Texas, Wisconsin, Maryland and Connecticut, according to the FDA memo.

Salmonella Bareilly is a rare strain sometimes associated with bean sprouts. Salmonella infections can cause nausea, vomiting, cramping, fever, chills and headache. Symptoms usually last four to seven days.

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Oklahoma health officials say that Taco Bell restaurants were the source of salmonella food poisoning linked to an outbreak that sickened 68 people in 10 states last fall.

Federal officials who have withheld the identity of the Mexican-style fast-food restaurant chain tied to the outbreak said they have not changed their position.

"Our response remains the same," said Lola Russell, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Kristy Bradley, the state's epidemiologist, had staff forward documents that confirmed that of the 16 Oklahoma residents infected with the outbreak strain of the bacteria, eight consumed food from Taco Bell. That included eight of 12 who were able to be interviewed in connection with the outbreak. 

CDC officials have masked the source, identified only as "Restaurant Chain A," in accordance with what the agency said is a longstanding policy that balances public health risk with the business concerns of firms that could be harmed by bad publicity.

Oklahoma released the documents in response to requests from msnbc.com and others, said Leslea Bennet-Webb, a spokeswoman for the state health department. The agency originally deferred to CDC, and asked the agency if the documents should be protected from public disclosure. When CDC did not respond by a Tuesday deadline, the state agreed to release the information.

But food safety advocates had been putting pressure on state and federal agencies to reveal the name of firms involved in outbreaks in this case -- and those in the future.

"I think it just proves the point that it is always better to be transparent," said Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety lawyer who used his blog to lobby vigorously for the release of the name. "Taco Bell could have looked like a hero by coming out and saying that it was a supplier problem and they are going to work hard to make sure it never happens again."

Rob Poetsch, a spokesman with Taco Bell Corp. a subsidary of Yum! Brands Inc., issued a statement late Wednesday, after msnbc.com reported that the company's name had been released:

"The CDC has stated the public health is not at any risk and this incident is completely over," he wrote.  "They have not identified the food source of the food borneillness that occurred in October and November of 2011. The CDC indicated that some of the people who were ill ate at Taco Bell, while others did not.  They  believe that the problem likely occurred at the supplier level before it was delivered to any restaurant or food outlet. We take food quality and safety very seriously."

This is the third outbreak involving the restaurant chain since 2006. That year, contaminated lettuce was tied to an outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7. In 2010, Taco Bell was eventually revealed as the source of two outbreaks of rare strains of salmonella that sickened 155 people in 21 states.

The hunt for the name followed an outbreak of salmonella Enteritidis investigated by the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and health officials in 10 states.

The wide-ranging probe found infections in far-flung states, but identified no specific food item or ingredient responsible for the illnesses, likely because several ingredients were mixed together in many menu items, officials said.

However, officials noted that ground beef was an unlikely source of infection because of the safe handling practices used by Taco Bell.

Ultimately, officials concluded that contamination likely occurred before food products reached Taco Bell locations, the report said.

CDC officials confirmed 16 victims in Oklahoma and more in nine other states, including 43 in Texas, two in Kansas and one each in Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio and Tennessee.

Dr. Robert Tauxe, the CDC's director of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, said that the agency has long tried to weigh the public health risk of an outbreak with the concerns of the business involved. That ensures future cooperation under a voluntary system, he said.

"If there's not an important public health reason to use the name publicly, CDC doesn't use the name publicly," he said.

This is the second time a state has broken ranks with CDC and FDA officials to name Taco Bell as the source of an outbreak. In 2010, Oregon epidemiologist Dr. William Keene told media outlets that the source was Taco Bell. CDC officials said the information was released "in error," but Keene told msnbc.com it was deliberate, indeed.

"It was a normal release of what we considered public information," Keene said. "There was no compelling reason to keep it secret then."

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When government health officials wrapped up a three-month investigation of a salmonella Enteritidis outbreak that sickened 68 people in 10 states, the final report on Jan. 19 included nearly every detail -- except the name of the place that sold the food.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has refused to identify the source, other than as “Restaurant Chain A,” a Mexican-style fast-food chain.

That’s the second time in a little more than a year that the agency has masked the source of foodborne illness at a similar chain. In August 2010, a final CDC report found that 155 people in 21 states were sickened by two rare strains of salmonella traced to an anonymous Mexican-style fast-food chain eventually identified as Taco Bell.

Two other recent outbreaks with initially hidden sources -- laboratory-supplied salmonella Typhimuirium identified only as “strain X,” and an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in romaine lettuce from “grocery store Chain A” -- have spurred new scrutiny of the agency’s willingness to keep the entities behind some infectious outbreaks secret.

Food safety advocates say the practice keeps the public in the dark about which firms have been linked to illness.

“It will eventually come out and it will be the company that looks bad,” said Doug Powell, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University and author of a food safety blog. “A lot of these problems could be reduced if government agencies were more transparent about how they decide when to go public.”

Dr. Robert Tauxe, a top CDC official, defended the agency’s practice of withholding company identities, which he said aims to protect not only public health, but also the bottom line of businesses that could be hurt by bad publicity. The CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and state health departments often identify companies responsible for outbreaks, but sometimes do not.

“The longstanding policy is we publicly identify a company only when people can use that information to take specific action to protect their health,” said Tauxe, the CDC’s deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases.  

“On the other hand, if there’s not an important public health reason to use the name publicly, CDC doesn’t use the name publicly.”

Because companies supply vital information about outbreaks voluntarily, CDC seeks to preserve cordial relationships.

“We don’t want to compromise that cooperation we’ll need,” Tauxe said.

But critics such as Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety lawyer, say that the government owes the public early and full disclosure during illness outbreaks.

“In today’s society, where transparency is so important for decision-making, I just don’t think government has the right to withhold that information from the public,” said Marler, who has pushed hard for the CDC to identify the firm behind the latest outbreak.

He all but outed Taco Bell in a blog post late Monday that chronicled in which states with illnesses certain Mexican fast-food chains operate.

If Taco Bell were indeed the entity involved in the latest outbreak, the information would allow consumers to decide whether they wanted to continue eating at a fast-food chain implicated in similar outbreaks in 2006 and 2010, Marler said.

In 2010, the CDC withheld the identity of the Mexican-style “Restaurant Chain A.” But when the name was released in error to media outlets, the CDC confirmed it, said Lola Russell, an agency spokeswoman.

The agency has not confirmed that the “Restaurant Chain A” in the 2010 outbreak is the same as in the 2011 incident, and they will not comment on whether it’s Taco Bell, Russell said.

Officials with two other Mexican-style fast-food restaurant chains with sites in the affected states, Qdoba and Chipotle Mexican Grill, told msnbc.com they were not questioned in connection with the outbreak.

Taco Bell officials did not return calls or e-mails from msnbc.com seeking comment.   

In the case of the outbreak of commercially produced salmonella Typhimurium that sickened 109 people between August 2010 and June 2011, including one man who died, the CDC withheld the specific strain that caused the illnesses. The victims of "strain X" were mostly clinical and teaching microbiology lab students and their families, but they could have spread the germs to the general public on contaminated lab coats and cells phones, investigators suggested. It was those lapses in lab practice, not the particular strain of bacteria, that caused most concern, officials said.

“In that case, we don’t think that one salmonella is a lot different from another salmonella,” Tauxe said. “The concern is not the strain, it’s what are the safety procedures and practices they use in the laboratory.”

The trouble, say food safety advocates, is that it’s not clear when or why CDC officials decide to withhold the identity of firms involved in outbreaks and when they decide to go public.

"No one is happy, and that's largely because there are no guidelines people can at least point to, whether they agree with the guidance or no," Powell said.

Tauxe acknowledged there’s no written policy or checklist that governs that decision, only decades of precedent.

“It’s a case-by-case thing and all the way back, as far as people can remember, there’s discussions of ‘hotel X’ or ‘cruise ship Y,” he said.

That just doesn’t pass muster, said Marler and other critics. 

“If the CDC has a good, rational reason for doing what they’re doing, fine,” he said. “Then write it down and hold it up for people like you and I to scrutinize.”

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Nineteen people in seven states have been diagnosed with salmonella infections after reportedly eating ground beef from a chain of Maine-based supermarkets, government health officials said.

The illnesses have all been traced to Hannaford, a Scarborough grocery chain that recalled an undetermined amount of ground beef on Dec. 15, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. The beef was marked with a sell-by date of Dec. 17.

The strain of salmonella Typhimurium detected in the outbreak appears to be resistant to common drugs, which can make the foodborne illness more difficult to treat. Of 15 victims who provided information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seven have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Illnesses began on or after Oct. 8 and have been reported through mid-December. Illnesses that occurred after that time might not have been reported yet because of the lag between when a person becomes sick and when they reach out to health officials.

Consumers should check their homes for the recalled products, which are listed here.

Salmonella infections can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within hours or days. Illness usually lasts four to seven days. 

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More than 3,000 cases of bagged lettuce and spinach blends were recalled by Taylor Farms Retail due to worries about possible samonella contamination. The precautionary move followed a random test on a package of spinach by the State of Washington Department of Agriculture, the Salinas, Calif., company said Wednesday.

There have been no reported illnesses linked to the recalled products.

The bagged salad products include those with "best by" dates ranging from Oct. 18 to 21. They were marketed under the brand names Fresh Selections, HEB, Marketside and Taylor Farms and included bags of Romaine Blend, Asian Salad, Caesar Salad and Spring Mix items.

The products were distributed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Puerto Rico and sold in various retail supermarkets.

Consumers who have purchased the bagged salads are urged not to eat them and to discard them. Taylor Farms Retail can be contacted for further information at 1-877-323-7374. For a complete list of the recalled items, visit the FDA website.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.