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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 a prison in Alaska were sick, FDA investigators found romaine lettuce disease at Harrison Farms in the Yuma area. Health officials said that the lettuce that caused the national outbreak was linked to many farms in the region. Representatives of Harrison Farms could not be contacted for comment on Saturday
Questions remain about how 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," Gottlieb says. two died, two lived in Minnesota and the others came from Arkansas, California and New York, according to the CDC.The people with the disease came from 36 states
. the largest outbreak of E. coli for more than a decade More than 200 people became ill and nearly half of them had to be hospitalized
In 2006, nearly 200 people have been reached contaminated spinach in 26 states; only one Californian production company was at the center of this epidemic. The most recent contamination was more widespread.
"This is a larger contamination event that has affected many farms and ranches, and then spread to the supply chain," Bill said. Marler, a lawyer in Seattle. More than 100 people were sick.
Marler said that many of his clients still had health problems, such as the effects of kidney failure, after eating contaminated lettuce. Many hospitalized people have developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome, according to the CDC.
Industry representatives in Arizona are seeking to ensure that contaminated water does not affect next year's harvests, said Teressa Lopez, a gatekeeper. – Arizona Leafy Greens Food Safety Committee, an organization for growers and shippers of green vegetables
The organization is waiting for more information from the FDA, including how the bacteria arrived and the specific farms
Lopez said that potential solutions include looking for a different water source for crops or treating water with chemicals to ensure that it is free of bacteria.
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