Foodborne Disease

(CIDRAP News) – The case count in a national outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections linked to fresh spinach rose to 175 today, but federal officials signaled that it's safe to eat spinach from places other than three counties in California's Salinas Valley.

(CIDRAP News) – Nine more cases were found in a nationwide outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections linked to fresh spinach, raising the total to 166, and two more deaths are suspected to be part of the outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Eleven more cases were identified today in a nationwide Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak related to fresh spinach, bringing the total to 157, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported.

(CIDRAP News) – Fifteen more cases were identified today in a nationwide Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to fresh spinach, raising the total to 146, and investigators have identified the first contaminated spinach sample from a bag submitted by a patient, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – The tally of people involved in a nationwide Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with fresh spinach jumped by 17 today to reach 131, about half of whom were hospitalized, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported.

(CIDRAP News) – Three people in Georgia recently contracted botulism after drinking contaminated carrot juice, prompting health officials to warn that carrot juice must be kept refrigerated.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of people affected by a nationwide Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak, apparently linked to fresh spinach, has climbed to 114 in 21 states, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today.

Editor's note: The following story was published the morning of Sep 15 with current FDA data. During the day more cases were reported in the news media. The numbers as of late afternoon stand at almost 60 cases in 10 states (Ohio and Kentucky are the additional states).

(CIDRAP News) – Outbreaks of Escherichia coli in recent years have spurred federal and California officials to launch a broad investigation into farms and processors of lettuce and other leafy greens in California's Salinas Valley, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and news sources.

(CIDRAP News) – US health officials broke new ground last week by approving the use of a mixture of bacteriophages, or bacteria-killing viruses, to control the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products.