Costco E. coli outbreak spreads to 19 people in seven states

The current strain linked to Costco has been identified as E. coli 157, which the CDC said is more likely to be more harmful, especially in young children.

Dr. Robert Tauxe of the CDC commended state health officials for quickly discovering the outbreak and helping find the links across seven states. Please see the Timeline for Reporting Cases of E. coli Infection for more details.

“They haven’t confirmed that it’s Costco”, he said. Five people have been hospitalized, including two with kidney failure.

The number of infected people is expected to grow in the coming weeks, even though the product was pulled from Costco stores. “They really liked and ate the rotisserie chicken salad”, he said.

“The epidemiologic evidence available at this time suggests that rotisserie chicken salad made and sold in Costco Wholesale stores in several states is a likely source of this outbreak”, the CDC report said. The number of ill people reported from each state is as follows: California (1), Colorado (4), Missouri (1), Montana (6), Utah (5), Virginia (1), and Washington (1). Hundreds of E. coli bacteria naturally reside in a human intestine, but some strains can cause diseases, the CDC said. The code on the salad that was recalled is 37719, but since the contaminated vegetables could have been used anywhere in the country, do not eat any chicken salad purchased at Costco stores on or before November 20, 2015 as a precaution. Chipotle voluntarily closed 43 restaurants in Washington and OR and reopened them after deep cleaning and ordering new ingredients.

“I think we’re going to learn something important from both ultimately”, he said.

A person that has E. coli infection will experience abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

McCullough says flu-like symptoms can start between 2 and 10 days from exposure and can be life threatening for kids or those with compromised immune systems.

Colorado health officials added four of the cases reflect patients whom have already recovered.