Salmonella-tainted smoked salmon sparks recall

• In the U.S., Dutch company sells only to wholesaler Costco
• Hundreds, perhaps thousands have been sickened
• Tainted salmon traced to Dutch company Foppen

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Smoked salmon tainted with salmonella bacteria has sickened people in between 50 and 85 cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Hundreds of people in the Netherlands have been sickened as well, sparking a major recall, health authorities said Tuesday.

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said the salmon has been traced to Dutch company Foppen, which sells fish to many major Dutch supermarkets and to stores around the world, including the U.S.

Company spokesman Bart de Vries said in the U.S. the company sells only to wholesaler Costco and that Costco would deal with any U.S. recall.

Roel Vincken of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, which carried out tests confirming the salmonella outbreak, said he had no information on a U.S. recall.

The Dutch National Institute said about 200 people -- and likely more -- in the Netherlands have been sickened.

Before eventually giving its estimate of the number of U.S. cases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier Tuesday it was in the "very preliminary stages" of its investigation and has no figures on illnesses.

Early reports from Dutch officials had placed the number of U.S. cases in excess of 100.

Foppen also estimated the actual number of infections was higher. Company spokesman Bart de Vries said that since the company set up a public information phone line two days ago, some 1,400 people had called and around 350 of the callers "reported symptoms consistent with a salmonella infection.

"Those infected by the salmonella bacteria can suffer symptoms including fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

De Vries said the company did not believe contaminated fish had been sold to any other countries. Foppen, which processes fish in the Netherlands and at a factory in Greece, is investigating the cause of the outbreak.

"The investigation into the cause is under way and has been narrowed down to one production line at one factory (in Greece)," De Vries told The Associated Press. "We can't yet say what the cause of the infection was."

Foppen has halted all production of smoked salmon until the investigation is completed, he added.

Contributing: USA TODAY reporter Elizabeth Weise