E. coli-tainted romaine lettuce sickens 149 in U.S.

The nationwide food poisoning outbreak from E. coli-tainted romaine lettuce has spread to 29 U.S. states and sickened 149 people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

That is an increase of 28 people and four states — Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota and Texas — since the most recent CDC update May 2.

The number of people sickened in this outbreak has climbed steadily since federal authorities began investigating a month ago, making it the worst since the 2006 baby spinach E. coli outbreak in which 205 people became ill and five of them died.

This strain of E. coli produces a toxin that causes vomiting and diarrhea and potentially other severe symptoms, including in some cases kidney failure.

Of 129 people, 64, or 50 per cent, have been hospitalized, including 17 people who developed severe kidney failure.

One death from California has been reported. The ill people range in age from one to 88 years old.

About 65 per cent of those sickened are women.

The most recent illness started April 25. But there is a time lag in reporting and confirming these cases. People who have taken ill in the last two or three weeks may not yet be reported.

California leads the nation with 30 cases, followed by Pennsylvania with 20, and Idaho with 11.

The outbreak has proved to be a complicated case for federal investigators.

They have identified one farm in Yuma, Ariz., as having grown whole-head lettuce linked to cases of food poisoning in an Alaska prison, but they do not know where that lettuce became contaminated.

The rest of the cases involve chopped lettuce that did not come from the Yuma farm, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Many of the people sickened across the country ate chopped lettuce that had been sold in bagged form to restaurants. The bacteria could have contaminated the lettuce any place in the production process.