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The massive E. Coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce has now sickened 149 people spread across 29 different states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its latest update.
Since its last update on May 2, the CDC says it has received reports of 28 more people falling ill with E. coli strain O157:H7 across four new states. The agency says the last illness started back on April 25, and that "illnesses that occurred in the last two to three weeks might not yet be reported."
Last week, the CDC reported that the E. coli outbreak had resulted in a death in California which was its first, and only, so far.
"Do not eat or buy romaine lettuce unless you can confirm it is not from the Yuma growing region," the CDC warns consumers. "Romaine lettuce has a shelf life of several weeks, and contaminated lettuce could still be in homes, stores, and restaurants.
"Product labels often do not identify growing regions; so, do not eat or buy romaine lettuce if you do not know where it was grown. This advice includes whole heads and hearts of romaine, chopped romaine, baby romaine, organic romaine, and salads and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce. If you do not know if the lettuce in a salad mix is romaine, do not eat it."
Of those affected, 64 people have been hospitalized and 17 more have developed a type of kidney failure. The CDC says that its investigation is ongoing, and that it will continue to provide updates.
Infected people range in age from 1 to 88 years old, have a median age of 30 and 65 percent of those affected are women. Of the 112 people interviewed by the CDC and FDA, 102 of admitted to eating romaine in the week before falling ill.
With all of this, there still not has been a recall issued as the CDC and FDA warn against eating any romaine lettuce.
E.coli symptoms vary but typically include stomach cramps, fevers, bloody diarrhea, vomiting, among others. The CDC advises anyone with these symptoms to seek medical attention as E. coli infection is typically diagnosed via a stool sample.
The four new states added to the list are Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota and Texas. These four join the seemingly ever-growing list of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The CDC reports its investigation points to chopped romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona region as the potential culprit. That's all the information the U.S. agency gives in that regard as it still maintains that, "no common grower, supplier, distributor, or brand has been identified."
In mid-April, before the outbreak had turned fatal or knowingly hit Michigan, the FDA found a lead in pinpointing how the outbreak spread. Several prisoners in Nome, Alaska became infected after eating whole-head romaine lettuce out of the previously identified Yuma, Arizona region.
The Washington Post reported that eight prisoners were affected in Alaska, and that it was a dangerous strain of E. coli in 0157:H7 that can produce a Shiga toxin and severely damage the kidneys. Officials at the facility told the newspaper that they just kept tracing the romaine lettuce until it brought them to the farm in Yuma, Arizona.
"State and local health officials continue to interview ill people to ask about the foods they ate and other exposures before they became ill," the CDC reports in its update.
"Most people reported eating a salad at a restaurant, and romaine lettuce was the only common ingredient identified among the salads eaten. The restaurants reported using bagged, chopped romaine lettuce to make salads. At this time, ill people are not reporting whole heads or hearts of romaine."
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via Health - Google News https://ift.tt/2BVxLxp
May 11, 2018 at 05:00PM
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