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, according to Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Samantha Stanton.

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 were 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.

Howard County resident Easter Kim said she was waiting in the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center emergency room Monday afternoon when a rush of ambulances and patients arrived. Doctors and nurses sprang into action, donning personal protective equipment like gowns, masks and goggles. Patients brought in from ambulances out front were clutching their stomachs and looked nauseous, Kim said.

“There was a lot of commotion,” Kim said. “I’ve never seen such a mess like that.”

A Howard County Medical Center spokesperson said Tuesday the 46 patients were spread among area hospitals and the Howard medical center received 26, who have all been discharged.

Howard County’s health department said it is working with the Maryland Department of Health and “other partners” to investigate the cause of the food poisoning incident, and will offer updates as more information becomes available.

Baltimore Sun Media Group reporter Allana Haynes contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact reporter Amanda Yeager at ayeager@baltsun .com, 443-790-1738 or @amandacyeager on X.