Spinach Contaminated with E. coli
Less than two weeks after the FDA alert about an outbreak of E. coli, 183 cases of illness due to E. coli infection after eating suspected contaminated prepackaged spinach have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The reported cases include 29 cases of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), 95 hospitalizations and one death.
Symptoms of illness may include diarrhea with bloody stools; a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) may also occur but is more likely in young children and the elderly. Serious kidney damage may result in death.
The 26 affected states are: Arizona (7), California (1), Colorado (1), Connecticut (3) Idaho (4), Illinois (1), Indiana (9), Kentucky (8), Maine (3), Maryland (3), Michigan (4), Minnesota (2), Nebraska (9), Nevada (1), New Mexico (5), New York (11), Ohio (24), Oregon (6), Pennsylvania (8), Tennessee (1), Utah (18), Virginia (2), Washington (3), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (47), and Wyoming (1).
Wisconsin health authorities reported the E. coli fatality was a 77-year-old woman from Manitowoc who died September 7.
