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The strain of E. coli bacteria contaminating romaine lettuce and linked to the deaths of five people was found in a contaminated irrigation canal in Arizona, federal officials announced on Thursday
. Three months after the first diseases were recorded, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said:
Canal water samples in the Yuma region of Arizona contained the same genetic strain of E. coli that caused the outbreak. Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the Federal Food and Drug Administration, said in a statement
When eight inmates in an Alaskan prison became ill, FDA investigators found the romaine lettuce disease harvested in Harrison Farms. Yuma area. Health officials said that the lettuce that caused the national outbreak was linked to many farms in the region. Harrison Farms representatives could not be contacted for comment Saturday
Questions remain about how the bacteria ended up in the canal.
"More work needs to be done to determine how and why this strain of E. coli O157" Health authorities have taken samples of water, soil and manure in the Yuma area to try to determine the exact source of the romaine lettuce salad, "said Gottlieb.Of the five dead, two lived in Minnesota and the others came from Arkansas, California and New York, according to the CDC. were from 36 states.
This was the largest push of E. coli for more than a decade.More than 200 people became ill and nearly half of them died. among them had to be hospitalized
In 2006, nearly 200 people were infected with infected spinach in 26 states, with only one Californian production company at the center of the epidemic. more widespread.
"He "This is a larger contamination event that has affected many farms and ranches, and then spread to the supply chain," says Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer.
Marler said that many of his clients still had health problems, such as the effects of kidney failure, after eating contaminated lettuce.
Arizona industry representatives seek to ensure that contaminated water According to Teressa Lopez, spokesperson for the Arizona Leafy Greens Food Safety Committee, an organization for producers and shippers of leafy vegetables.
Julia Jacobs is a writer of The New York Times. 19659015]
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