Twenty-five people in Washington have been sickened with Salmonella infections from contaminated cucumbers. They are part of a huge outbreak that has sickened 838 people in 38 states. One hundred and sixty five people have been hospitalized, four have died. By county, the case count is as follows: Clark (4 cases), King (5); Kitsap (2); Pierce (5); Snohomish (4); Spokane (2); Thurston (1); Walla Walla (1); and Yakima (1). One person has been hospitalized. On September 4, 2015, Andrew & Williamson recalled the cucumbers sold under the “Limited Edition” brand label from August 1, 2015 through September 3, 2015. Then, on September 11, another recall was issued by Custom Produce Sales for all cucumbers sold under the Fat Boy label starting August 1, 2015. Those unlabeled cucumbers, … [Read more...]
Number of Cases in Chipotle E. coli Outbreak Drops to 37
The number of cases in the E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle restaurants in Washington and Oregon has officially dropped from 50 to 37. Health officials have trimmed seven cases from the total in Washington and six cases from the total in Oregon bringing the total number of cases in those states to 24 and 13 respectively. The Washington State Department of Health said the numbers were revised as results from "more definitive tests" became available. Five Washington locations have been linked to the outbreak. They are located at: Hazel Dell, 7715 NE 5thAvenue, Suite 109, in Vancouver; 1404 Broadway Avenue and 4229 University Way NE in Seattle; 512 Ramsey Way 101 in Kent; and 1753 S. Burlington Blvd. in Burlington. In Oregon, the 13 patient who range in age form 11 to 61 are from … [Read more...]
E. coli Outbreaks: When the Evidence Gets Eaten, Thrown Away
Identifying the contaminated food source responsible for a food poisoning outbreak isn't always as straightforward as it seems, especially when perishable items are involved. A short shelf life means evidence often is either eaten or thrown away before an investigation even gets started. That's the case with the Chipotle E. coli outbreak. Health officials suspect that contaminated produce is the source of the outbreak. But it's likely that the tainted batch was consumed before investigators gathered samples from restaurants for testing as is often the case. The first round of tests on samples taken from several Chipotle restaurants were negative for the outbreak strain E. coli O26. Other tests are pending. It's important to note that finding the outbreak strain in uneaten food is not … [Read more...]
