Federal health officials found another 14 cases of sickness linked to contaminated romaine lettuce from Yuma, Ariz., increasing the total to 98 illnesses in 22 states.
[Also read: E. coli contaminated lettuce causes first death]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not change its advisory for consumers to stay away from romaine lettuce grown in Yuma because of the outbreak of E. coli. It also has warned that consumers should not eat romaine if they cannot identify where it came from.
The outbreak started at a correctional facility in Alaska. Officials with the Food and Drug Administration and CDC said they are still trying to find out how the lettuce became contaminated with E. coli.
“We haven’t determined where in the supply chain the contamination occurred,” said Stic Harris, director of the FDA’s coordinated outbreak Response and Evaluation Network on a call with reporters. “The contamination could have occurred at one point before reaching the Alaska correctional facility.”
The CDC has information on the status of the affected person in 87 cases. Of those 87 people, 46 people have been hospitalized.
That is a much higher rate of hospitalization than a normal E. coli outbreak, which is about 30 percent. The reason is the strain of E. coli, which produces a toxin that causes more severe illness, CDC said.
No deaths have been reported, CDC added in a separate press release.
