The CDC discovers the epidemic of E. Coli before Thanksgiving

Consumers should throw out all the romaine lettuce, and retailers and restaurants should neither sell nor serve it, the CDC said.

At least 32 people in 11 states were sick from the same strain of E. Coli during the epidemic. The disease began in October and hospitalized at least 13 people, one with a kind of kidney failure, the CDC said. No deaths have been reported and no reminder has been published.

The food safety alert arrives just two days before Thanksgiving.

American consumers should avoid all types of romaine lettuce as well as salad mixes if they do not know if it contains romaine, according to the CDC. The agency also asked Americans to clean the refrigerators where the Roman had been stored.

"Consumers who have any type of romaine lettuce at home should not eat or dispose of it, even if some of it was eaten and no one had fallen ill," said the CDC. in a statement.

No common source of contaminated lettuce has been identified, the CDC said, but federal health officials have opened an investigation.

According to the CDC, the strain of E. Coli had "the same DNA fingerprint" as an outbreak related to leafy greenery in the United States and to the Roman in Canada late last year. The epidemic killed one person and infected 25 in 15 states.

However, the epidemic is not related to an epidemic of E. Early-year romaine lettuce coli – which killed five people and sickened 210 in 36 states – the CDC said.

"This is not the first Roman epidemic we have seen recently, and we will continue to take steps to identify the root causes of these events and take steps to prevent other epidemics," he said. said Scott Gottlieb, US commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration. .

In addition, 18 people in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec also suffered from the same strain of E. Coli.

Ten cases have been reported in California, the state that has the largest number of sick people. Seven have been identified in Michigan. Other states reporting cases are Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, the state of New York, Ohio and Wisconsin.

"Sick people have reported eating different types of romaine lettuce at several restaurants and at home," health officials said. Most people got sick on average three to four days after consuming contaminated lettuce, the agency added.

Symptoms include "severe stomach cramps, (often bloody) diarrhea and vomiting," among others, but most people who become ill will heal within a week, according to the CDC.

Up to 10% of patients may develop hemolytic uremic syndrome, the CDC said. The "life-threatening complication" can lead to kidney failure.