E. coli O157, spinach - USA (multistate)(02)

International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Source: New York Newsday [edited]
< http://www.newsday.com/news /politics/wire/sns-ap-tainted-spinach,0,1050220.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>

Federal health officials worked Fri, 15 Sep 2006, to find the source
of a multistate _E. coli_ outbreak and warned consumers that even
washing the suspect spinach won't kill the sometimes-deadly bacteria.
One person died and dozens of others were sickened in the 10-state
outbreak, linked by Food and Drug Administration officials to bagged spinach.

The FDA warned people not to eat bagged spinach and said washing it
wouldn't solve the problem because the bacteria are too tightly
attached. "If you wash it, it is not going to get rid of it," said
Robert Brackett, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition.

The original outbreak was reported Thu,14 Sep 2006, in 8 states.
Today, Ohio and Kentucky brought the tally to 10, as additional
reports trickled in to state and federal health officials. Ohio
health officials reported 7 cases, while Kentucky officials knew of a
single case involving a 17-year-old girl being treated in neighboring
Tennessee.

Meanwhile, supermarkets around the country began pulling packaged
spinach from store shelves. "We pulled everything that we have
spinach in," said Dan Brettelle, manager of a Piggly Wiggly store in
Columbia, SC.

Officials believes the spinach may have been grown in California, and
federal and state health officials were there trying to pinpoint the
source of the contamination. Ten states were reporting a total of at
least 58 cases of _E. coli_, according to the latest tally Friday.

The death occurred in Wisconsin, where 20 people were reported ill,
11 of them in Milwaukee. The outbreak has sickened others -- 10 of
them seriously -- in Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan,
New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon and Utah. In California and Washington,
health officials were investigating a single case in each of those 2 states.