Iowa, Nebraska, and Oregon have been added to the list of states where people have gotten food poisoning after eating romaine lettuce, bringing the total to 32.
The contaminated lettuce has sickened at least 172 people and killed one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest numbers are from May 2. Of the 157 people for whom officials have information, 75 were hospitalized, including 20 who developed a type of kidney failure from the illness.
The strain of E. coli that has circulated begins to sicken people roughly five days after they eat infected lettuce, and they remain ill for about a week with vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and stomach cramps. The E. coli strain also can cause other severe symptoms, such as a type of kidney failure.
One of the outbreaks started at a correctional facility in Alaska, caused by lettuce that came from the Yuma, Ariz., region. Officials with the Food and Drug Administration and CDC said they are still trying to find out how the lettuce became contaminated. That batch has not been found to be associated with other outbreaks.
CDC officials have told consumers not to buy or eat lettuce from the Yuma region and to avoid romaine if they don’t know where it came from.
