News: Outbreak of E. coli Infections Linked to Romaine Lettuce (US & Canada) (Update: Source likely California)

[Arcadia]

From CDC https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-11-18/index.html

“

• Thirty-two people infected with the outbreak strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from 11 states.
  • Illnesses started on dates ranging from October 8, 2018 to October 31, 2018.
  • Thirteen people were hospitalized, including one person who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.
• The Public Health Agency of Canada has identified 18 ill people infected with the same DNA fingerprint of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in two Canadian provinces: Ontario and Quebec.
• Epidemiologic evidence from the United States and Canada indicates that romaine lettuce is a likely source of the outbreak.
• Ill people in this outbreak were infected with E. coli bacteria with the same DNA fingerprint as the E. coli strain isolated from ill people in a 2017 outbreak linked to leafy greens in the United States and to romaine lettuce in Canada. The current outbreak is not related to a recent multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to romaine lettuce.
• CDC is advising that consumers do not eat any romaine lettuce because no common grower, supplier, distributor, or brand of romaine lettuce has been identified.
• This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide more information as it becomes available.”

 

ETA:

FDA link https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm626330.htm

Canada govt link https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/public-health-notices/2018/outbreak-ecoli-infections-linked-romaine-lettuce.html

Edited November 21, 2018 by Arcadia

[Selkie]

Thanks for posting - ugh! I haven't eaten romaine since the last outbreak. I've been sticking with hydroponically grown butter lettuce, kale, and cabbage for my salads.

 

[edelweiss]

Great! We just had some for dinner last night.  🙄

[ScoutTN]

Glad I just got a big bag of lettuce in my CSA box. 

[RootAnn]

All our bag lettuce mixes have Romaine in them.  

I am putting my fingers in my ears right now. La-la-la-la. (Our grocery store still has *everything* out.)

[Angie in VA]

AGAIN? Of course, we bought Romaine hearts a week or so ago.

*SIGH*

Thanks for posting this,though. 

[Katy]

Oh no.  I had bagged salad for lunch and I was SO grateful to finally have good salad in the stores again.

[freesia]

It's only Romaine because 77% of those effected had had Romaine in the last week compared to 47% of random people.  

Of course dh made a special trip to get me spring mix last night bc I had left it off the grocery list and I was sad. Guess I'm going to have to pitch it. 😞

[cintinative]

bump

[fairfarmhand]

That’s it. I’m growing some in pots In the winter and in the garden in the warm months. This is absurd.

[Matryoshka]

I hadn't had Romaine in a while, but I just ate some last night... 

[theelfqueen]

I literally just started lettuces in my kids' hydroponic grower. 

[ThisIsTheDay]

I don't understand the reaction to the CDC warning.

This is the same CDC that denies any possibility of a connection between childhood vaccines and autism, the same CDC that annually pushed flu shots for all.

Thirteen people across the county reportedly get ill from eating romaine last month. I am not throwing out my food. In fact, my husband bought romaine last night--after seeing the warning (it was still on the shelf), and we happily ate salad for dinner.

If only people reacted the same way to, oh, say smoking or vaping warnings, or any other myriad of serious, widespread health concerns.

[Condessa]

Hmm.  I wonder if I have this.  We’ve been having what I believed to be a weird form of stomach bug go through our family, with most of the symptoms listed, and I’m realizing now that the severity of the illness has matched up with how big of a salad eater each of us is.  I definitely eat the most salad, and have been the worst.  I keep thinking I’m over it and then having it come back a few days later.

[BarbecueMom]

10 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

That’s it. I’m growing some in pots In the winter and in the garden in the warm months. This is absurd.

I read that too fast.  I thought you were going to grow pot in the winter.  I mean, it probably has more flavor than romaine.  No one makes “romaine brownies”.

[cintinative]

2 hours ago, ThisIsTheDay said:

 

Thirteen people across the county reportedly get ill from eating romaine last month. 

 FYI "Thirty-two people, including 13 who have been hospitalized, have been infected with the outbreak strain in 11 states, according to the CDC. One of the hospitalized people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially life-threatening form of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported. . . The Public Health Agency of Canada has identified an additional 18 people who have become sick with the same strain of E. coli in Ontario and Quebec."

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by cintinative

[wintermom]

4 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 FYI "Thirty-two people, including 13 who have been hospitalized, have been infected with the outbreak strain in 11 states, according to the CDC. One of the hospitalized people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially life-threatening form of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported. . . The Public Health Agency of Canada has identified an additional 18 people who have become sick with the same strain of E. coli in Ontario and Quebec."

From what I heard on the news in Canada, 18 people were hospitalized. I'm sure that a lot more people were effected but there may not be data on that yet. They may not visit a dr office or clinic.

[cintinative]

3 minutes ago, wintermom said:

From what I heard on the news in Canada, 18 people were hospitalized. I'm sure that a lot more people were effected but there may not be data on that yet. They may not visit a dr office or clinic.

 

Thanks for correcting that.

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, cintinative said:

 FYI "...Public Health Agency of Canada has identified an additional 18 people who have become sick with the same strain of E. coli in Ontario and Quebec."

 

 

1 hour ago, wintermom said:

From what I heard on the news in Canada, 18 people were hospitalized. I'm sure that a lot more people were effected but there may not be data on that yet. They may not visit a dr office or clinic.

 

Info on Canada cases from the government https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/public-health-notices/2018/outbreak-ecoli-infections-linked-romaine-lettuce.html

“In Canada, as of November 20, 2018, there have been 18 confirmed cases of E. coli illness investigated in Ontario (3) and Quebec (15). Individuals became sick between mid-October and early November 2018. Six individuals have been hospitalized, and one individual suffered from hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a severe complication that can result from an E. coli infection. No deaths have been reported. Individuals who became ill are between 5 and 93 years of age. The majority of cases (56%) are female.

Most of the individuals who became sick in Ontario and Quebec reported eating romaine lettuce before their illnesses occurred. Individuals reported eating romaine lettuce at home, as well as in prepared salads purchased at grocery stores, or from menu items ordered at restaurants and fast food chains.”

[Arcadia]

From NBC News & abc7news LA

“But a federal Food and Drug Administration official told Eyewitness News that based in part of where the majority of illnesses have been reported, it seems California is the likely origin.

Earlier reports had said the tainted lettuce likely came from Arizona. But the majority of romaine lettuce available on store shelves this time of year is grown in California, experts says.

Of the 32 cases, 10 were based in California - nine of them in Los Angeles County. The cases of infection with the outbreak strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli were reported between Oct. 8 and Oct. 31.” https://abc7.com/food/fda-tainted-romaine-lettuce-likely-came-from-ca/4735151/

““The strain that caused that outbreak is very similar to the one that’s causing this outbreak and the timing is exactly the same. So it’s likely associated with end-of-season harvests in California, where most of the romaine that is currently on the market is from,” Gottlieb told NBC News.

“I think we are going to be in a position to isolate the region soon. There is some lettuce coming in from Mexico but most of what’s on the market is the result of end-of-the-season harvesting coming out of California right now.”

..,

Although this is the second romaine-linked outbreak this year, it is not clear whether romaine lettuce itself is more likely to be contaminated than other vegetables, said Dr. Laura Gieraltowski, leader of the foodborne outbreak response team at the CDC. “It’s something we’ve been asking,” she said.

“It could have to do with the way the lettuce is shaped. (A head of) romaine lettuce is kind of open and maybe contaminated water can get into it more than into a head of iceberg lettuce or cabbage that is in a ball.”

And like many other foods, romaine is often processed and repackaged before it ships out to grocery stores and restaurants.

“Is romaine somehow riskier? We don’t think so,” Gottlieb said. “We think it is probably related more to the way that it is packaged.” So pieces of a single contaminated head of romaine could be chopped up and spread through a number of packages.

...

While it may seem that there have been more food recalls lately, both the FDA and CDC say that’s not because more food is being contaminated. “The food supply in the U.S. is one of the safest in the world,” Gieraltowski said.

Rather, FDA and CDC are better at finding ways to link the 48 million cases of food poisoning that occur each year.

“It’s not that there are more outbreaks. It’s that we are identifying more outbreaks,” Gottlieb said.

“A lot of what we identify now would have been random people showing up at their doctor’s office with gastrointestinal illness that we would never have associated with a common etiology (cause),” Gottlieb added.

Genetic fingerprinting has changed that.

“But now that we’re taking samples and looking at bacteria … we are seeing that it’s the same bug and that clues in researchers at the CDC that there’s one common element, that there’s one genetic fingerprinting, that it’s coming from the same source. We are seeing that it's the same bug."

The next step is speeding up the slow process of tracking the sources of the outbreaks using better technology to keep tabs on food as it moves from farms to distributors and to stores, Gottlieb said.

Contaminated food is an extremely common problem. The CDC estimates that germs in food make 48 million Americans sick every year — that’s one out of six people. About 128,000 are made sick enough to be hospitalized, and 3,000 die.” https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/california-may-be-source-latest-romaine-lettuce-e-coli-outbreak-n939026

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Arcadia

[ThisIsTheDay]

8 hours ago, texasmom33 said:

Just throwing out there for skeptics-

I'm not sure if you're referring to me as a skeptic. I don't doubt they are connected. I am just surprised that so many people are concerned about romaine when they scoff at other CDC recommendations.