Multi-State E. coli Infections
Linked to Chopped Romaine Lettuce
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[April 14, 2018]
SPRINGFIELD
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), along with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug
Administration, and other state and local health departments, is
investigating a multi-state cluster of E. coli infections linked to
chopped romaine lettuce.
Information collected to date indicates that chopped romaine lettuce
from the Yuma, Arizona growing region could be contaminated with E.
coli O157:H7 and could make people sick. At this time, no common
grower, supplier, distributor, or brand has been identified.
One case linked to the outbreak has been identified in Illinois. To
date, 35 other cases have been reported in 11 states with 22
hospitalizations and no deaths. The Illinois resident reported
consuming chopped romaine lettuce before illness onset, in central
Illinois.
Consumers in Illinois 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. Before purchasing romaine lettuce at a grocery store
or eating it at a restaurant, consumers should confirm with the
store or restaurant that it is not chopped romaine lettuce from the
Yuma, Arizona growing region. If you cannot confirm the source of
the romaine lettuce, do not buy it or eat it.
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Restaurants and retailers should not serve or sell any chopped romaine lettuce,
including salads and salad mixes containing chopped romaine lettuce, from the
Yuma, Arizona growing region.
Restaurants and retailers should ask their suppliers about the source of their
chopped romaine lettuce.
People usually get sick from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli two-eight days after
swallowing the germ. Most people infected with E. coli develop diarrhea (often
bloody), severe stomach cramps, and vomiting. Most people recover within one
week although some illnesses can be more severe, resulting in a type of kidney
failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
Talk to your health care provider if you have symptoms of an E. coli infection
and report your illness to your local health department. You can also write down
what you ate in the week before you started to get sick and talk to public
health investigators if they have questions about your illness.
[ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
HEALTH] |