Coli linked to Costco Chicken Salad

In a report by The Washington Post, investigations are being done by a number of health officials in accordance to the 2015 outbreak of highly risky E. Coli bacteria that has already affected 19 people in at least seven USA states. Most people recover within a week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, but some develop kidney failure in the form of hemolytic uremic syndrome.

McCullough says no deaths have been reported. DNA “fingerprinting” is performed on E. coli bacteria isolated from ill people by using a technique called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE.

Dr. Wachs agrees, adding E. Coli symptoms can take upwards of 10 days to show. Officials are working to determine the source.

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. 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.

She says the investigation by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is complicated because the salad with rotisserie chicken is put together in-store with ingredients from a variety of sources.

Five had to go to the hospital, and two of them have kidney failure.

Of those 19 ill persons, 16 have been interviewed. This strain linked to Costco chicken salad is particularly worrisome because it can be life-threatening. The ages of those who became ill range from 5 to 84 years of age, with the median being 18 years old.

That strain was determined to be E. coli 026.

“All the evidence that we have points to this chicken salad”, he said. Costco has halted production of the salad and removed all product from the shelves.

Symptoms of E. coli infection include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting.

Officials from the health agency are urging people who bought chicken salad to drop it in the trash, wherever they have bought it recently.