Recently we told you about a smaller outbreak of E. Coli that only involved 11 states. Originally it was Washington, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Idaho and Pennsylvania that had to worry about lettuce that was grown in Yuma, Arizona. It seems that wasn’t enough though.
Originally their press release read:
“Consumers anywhere in the United States who have store-bought chopped romaine lettuce at home, including salads and salad mixes containing chopped romaine lettuce, should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick.
If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine, do not eat it and throw it away.”
The previous warning also concluded that “romaine, including salads and salad mixes” were the types of lettuce to look out for.
Now it seems like the outbreak has spread, so next steps are probably zombies right?
Their new findings were posted on their website and they read:
– Thirty-one more ill people from 10 states were added to this investigation since the last update on April 18, 2018.
– Three more states have reported ill people: Colorado, Georgia, and South Dakota.
– The most recent illness started on April 12, 2018. Illnesses that occurred in the last two to three weeks might not yet be reported because of the time between when a person becomes ill with E. coli and when the illness is reported to CDC.
So at the moment, there have been 84 people effected in a total of 19 states.
The three states that have 10 or more cases of E. Coli are Pennsylvania, California and Idaho.
The CDC’s latest update reads:
As of April 25, 2018, 84 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from 19 states. A list of the states and the number of cases in each can be found on the Case Count Map page. Illnesses started on dates ranging from March 13, 2018 to April 12, 2018.
Ill people range in age from 1 to 88 years, with a median age of 31. Sixty-five percent of ill people are female. Forty-two ill people have been hospitalized, including nine people who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses that occurred after April 5, 2018, might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill with E. coli and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of two to three weeks.
Even though cases concern products grown in Yuma, Arizona, the CDC is advising that the labels aren’t always correct. In that case, they are saying that all romaine lettuce in the country should be avoided.