Romaine lettuce outbreak update: 149 sick in 29 states
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Workers plant romaine lettuce at the EG Richter Family Farm in Puyallup, Wash., on April 26. The farm sells most of it’s lettuce to large local grocery store chains, and owner Tim Richter said that so far his farm hasn’t been affected by warnings that romaine lettuce from Yuma, Ariz., apparently has been contaminated with the E. coli bacteria.
NEW YORK >> Four more states are reporting illnesses in a food poisoning outbreak linked to romaine lettuce.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its numbers on the outbreak today, revealing that 149 people in 29 states had gotten sick.
It’s unclear if new illness are still occurring. There’s a lag in reporting, and the most recent illness began two weeks ago.
Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota and Texas have joined the list of states reporting at least one E. coli illness linked to the outbreak.
At least 64 people have been hospitalized, including 17 with kidney failure. One death, previously reported, occurred in California.
Health officials have tied the outbreak to romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona, which provides most of the romaine sold in the U.S. during the winter.
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To date, no cases have been reported in Hawaii.
