What's New?
- Romaine lettuce tied to a recent outbreak of E. coli is likely no longer on store shelves or in restaurants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today (May 16).
- That means that the agency is no longer advising consumers to avoid buying romaine lettuce in connection with the outbreak.
Historical Features:
- Twenty-three more ill people from 13 states were added to this investigation since the last update on May 9, 2018.
- Three more states have reported ill people: Iowa, Nebraska, and Oregon.
CDC is updating its advice to consumers. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the last shipments of romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region were harvested on April 16, 2018 and the harvest season is over. It is unlikely that any romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region is still available in stores or restaurants due to its 21-day shelf life. It takes two to three weeks between when a person becomes ill with E. coli and when the illness is reported to CDC. The most recent illnesses reported to CDC started when romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region was likely still available in stores, restaurants, and in peoples’ homes.
Information collected to date indicates that romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region could have been contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 and made people sick. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the last shipments of romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region were harvested on April 16, 2018, and the harvest season is over. It is unlikely that any romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region is still available in people’s homes, stores, or restaurants due to its 21-day shelf life.
Advice to Consumers:
- If you have symptoms of an E. coli infection, take action and talk to your healthcare provider.
- Follow these steps to help keep you healthy and your fruits and vegetables safer to eat.
- Read more on general ways to prevent E. coli infection. An important step is to wash hands after using the restroom or changing diapers, before and after preparing or eating food, and after contact with animals.
Advice to Clinicians:
- Antibiotics are not recommended for patients with suspected E. coli O157 infections until diagnostic testing can be performed and E. coli O157 infection is ruled out.
- CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the FDA are investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections.
- 172 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from 32 states.75 people have been hospitalized, including 20 people who have developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
- One death was reported from California.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has identified people in several Canadian provinces infected with the same DNA fingerprint of E. coli O157:H7.
This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide updates when more information is available.
Post-Outbreak Perspectives: https://futurism.com/foodborne-illness-smartphone-tech-cdc/
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