E. coli outbreak tied to Ariz. hits 149 cases

An E. coli outbreak tied to romaine lettuce grown in Yuma has spread to 29 states, killing one person and sickening 148 others.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that 28 new cases have been genetically linked to the same strain of E. coli since the agency’s May 2 update.

But public-health officials offered no new information about the source of the contamination, how it entered the food system or what farms might be affected.

Doctors with the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration say the 149 cases, including eight in Arizona, share the same DNA fingerprint. But two months into the outbreak, they have yet to announce a nexus for illnesses.

Doctors say they are investigating dozens of Yuma fields to trace the pathogen to a common grower, distributor or shipper.

There is speculation among scientists at an international symposium on E. coli

in Florence, Italy, that the source of the outbreak could be shared irrigation water or windblown dust.

E. coli bacteria are found in fecal matter and are typically spread by animal incursions into fields. No E. coli outbreak has ever been traced to dust.

Federal health officials last month named Harrison Farms in Yuma as the source of whole heads of tainted romaine lettuce sold to a prison in Nome, Alaska, where eight inmates became ill.

They confirmed that the lettuce matched the other E. coli cases, but said Harrison Farms could not be tied to those through their trace-back efforts.

The CDC said in its update that 64 people have been hospitalized and 17 people have developed kidney failure.

The CDC continues to warn consumers against eating or buying romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region.

Farms in the Yuma region supply North America with the vast majority of its leafy greens annually from January through March.

“Romaine lettuce has a shelf life of several weeks, and contaminated lettuce could still be in homes, stores, and restaurants,” according to the CDC.

Farm-industry representatives and the Arizona Department of Agriculture say the romaine lettuce growing season ended weeks ago and is no longer being harvested. But health officials say they “cannot be certain that romaine lettuce from this region is no longer in the supply chain.”

Two Arizona women filed lawsuits against Red Lobster this week, saying they got sick after eating Caesar salads at the Peoria location.

Red Lobster is the third restaurant chain tied to the national E. coli outbreak. About a dozen Panera Bread customers in Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania and at least three Texas Roadhouse customers in Georgia all got sick with a genetically linked strain of the bacterial infection, according to the lawyer involved in those cases.

This is the worst E. coli outbreak since 2006, when contaminated spinach from a California farm killed three people and sickened 205 others in 26 states.

While reports of illnesses are increasing, the numbers are starting to wane and the percentage of hospitalizations are decreasing, indicating that the outbreak is nearing the end of its life.

Ill people range in age from 1 to 88 years. California has reported the most cases, with 30, followed by Pennsylvania, with 20 and Idaho, with 11.