Muskego Woman Joins Suit in Salmonella Outbreak

Amy Karfonta of Muskego is one of two area women who are suing a tuna maker that was blamed for a national outbreak of salmonella. Attorney Ron Simon said he filed suit this week on behalf of Karfonta and 33-year-old Amber Azzolina of West Allis. Both are seeking unspecified damages after getting sick from eating a product used in making sushi and sashimi.

“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,” Karfonta, 22, told MSNBC. Her symptoms appeared six days after she ate the 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. 

Karfonta explained in the article, “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.”

After the ER treatments, her symptoms subsided.

The defendant is Moon Marine USA, which has recalled 59,000 pounds of a frozen raw yellowfin tuna that’s linked to salmonella poisoning. About 120 people were sickened around the country, including 14 in southeast Wisconsin. Simon said his two clients got sick from food they ate at the same restaurant in Brookfield in February.

The salmonella symptoms Karfonta experienced caused her to miss a planned physical and agility test to land a job with the Muskego Police Department, and she's unsure when another opening there will occur. She had been a member of , and graduated last year from the program.

She is still recuperating, and has lost eight pounds due to the illness. She still faces a follow-up scope exam to determine how much her colon was damaged.