
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday that it has closed its investigation into a 19-state Escherichia coli O121:H19 outbreak linked to organic carrots after 48 cases, 20 hospitalizations, and 1 death. Nine of the cases and 2 hospitalizations are new since its previous update on November 17.
In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased the case counts in two other multistate E coli outbreaks.
Death was in California
Illness-onset dates for the carrot outbreak range from September 6, 2024, to November 10, 2024. Of the 20 patients who were hospitalized, 1 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious kidney condition. The death was in California.
Patients ranged in age from 1 to 75 years, with a median age of 26, and 69% were female. California and Washington had the most cases, with eight each.
"People reported buying different brands of carrots from multiple stores," the CDC said. "FDA's traceback of some of these purchases identified Grimmway Farms as the common supplier of organic whole and baby carrots in this outbreak." Grimmway Farms is headquartered in Bakersfield, California.
Two other E coli outbreaks
Food Safety News reported today that, in an E coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to a blend of iceberg and romaine chopped lettuce, the FDA reports that the number of ill people has increased to 86, up from 75 a week ago. People in 12 states have been sickened in this outbreak.
In addition, the patient count in an E coli O145:H28 outbreak with an unknown food source has increased to 8, up from 7 a week ago. In this outbreak, which the FDA first noted on December 11, the agency has not named the affected states.
The CDC said in an email today that it has led 63 probes into multistate foodborne disease outbreaks this year. The CDC lists 13 active investigations: 6 Listeria outbreaks, 4 Salmonella, and 3 E coli.