The investigation into an outbreak of E. coli that killed one person and sickened more than 140 others both broadened and shrank on Wednesday, as more victims were reported and scientists zeroed in on the contaminated spinach that caused the illness.
In Washington, federal officials said that they had narrowed the focus of their
William Marler, a nationally-recognized food safety advocate and attorney, today called on the spinach industry "to do the right thing and immediately pay the medical bills for the victims of this most recent outbreak traced to E. coli-contaminated spinach," according to the Associated Press. Marler noted that, in other large outbreaks, companies such as
The bacterium that has sickened people across the nation and forced growers to destroy spinach crops is so pervasive in the Salinas Valley that virtually every waterway there violates national standards.
Federal officials said Wednesday they are focusing on nine fields in San Benito, Santa Clara and Monterey counties as possible sources of the bacteria-contaminated
Two possible cases of E. coli in Nebraska may have been passed from person to person, and not come directly from eating tainted spinach.
That brings the total confirmed Nebraska cases to seven, with four more possible cases.
The two secondary cases are people who live with someone who became ill after eating spinach according
Federal health officials await test results from California farms and packing plants that could allow them to pinpoint the source of an E. coli outbreak that’s sickened spinach eaters across the country.
Though state and federal officials have traced the outbreak to a California company’s fresh spinach, they still don’t know how bacteria contaminated the
The nationwide E. coli outbreak from bagged spinach could seriously dampen the popularity of prewashed, packaged salads with time-pressed and diet-conscious Americans, reports the Associated Press.
The Food and Drug Administration’s announcement Wednesday that the bug that sickened hundreds of people matched a strain was found in an opened bag of Dole spinach.
So far
Cases matching outbreak strain by PFGE (2 enzymes): 42
Ages: 1-84 years (median = 30)
Genders: Males = 11 Females = 31
Hospitalizations = 22HUS cases = 8
Onset of illness: 8/20 to 9/10
Counties:
Dane7
Green2
Green Lake1
Manitowoc1
Milwaukee10
Outagamie1
Ozaukee7
Racine3
Waukesha10
Total42
Additional information:
•36 (86%) of 42 E. coli O157:H7
"Fresh fruits and vegetables are good for us; we should eat more," say Dr. Douglas Powell and Ben Chapman of the FoodSafety Network. Yet, they also remind us that fresh fruits and vegetables are one of, if not the most, significant source of foodborne illness today in North America, with an estimated 76 million illness
The New Mexico Department of Health announced today that it has linked the first spinach sample in the nation with the outbreak strain of E. coli 0157 that is affecting hundreds across the country.
The Scientific Laboratory Division isolated the nationwide outbreak strain from a package of spinach that one of New Mexico’s patients ate
First published in 1997 but still pertinent today, the Institute of Food Technologists’ scientific status summary on E. coli O157:H7 describes the pathogen, its ability to infect, the inherent difficulties to inactivate it, and much more.
Titled Foodborne Disease Significance of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Other Enterohemorrhagic E. coli, the six-page document (plus references)