U.S. CDC urges consumers not eat any romaine lettuce due to E. coli outbreak
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising consumers, restaurants, and retailers not to eat, serve, or sell any romaine lettuce as it investigates an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to romaine.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising consumers, restaurants, and retailers not to eat, serve, or sell any romaine lettuce as it investigates an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to romaine.
Thirty-two people infected with the outbreak strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from 11 states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from October 8, 2018 to October 31, 2018. Thirteen people were hospitalized, including one person who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has identified 18 ill people infected with the same DNA fingerprint of E. coliO157:H7 bacteria in two Canadian provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Epidemiologic evidence from the United States and Canada indicates that romaine lettuce is a likely source of the outbreak.
Ill people in this outbreak were infected with E. coli bacteria with the same DNA fingerprint as the E. coli strain isolated from ill people in a 2017 outbreak linked to leafy greens in the U.S. and to romaine lettuce in Canada. The current outbreak is not related to a recent multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to romaine lettuce.
CDC is advising that consumers do not eat any romaine lettuce because no common grower, supplier, distributor, or brand of romaine lettuce has been identified.