Costco chicken salad linked to E. coli outbreak in 7 states

Nineteen people in seven states have been sickened.

Shiga toxin producing strain of E.Coli can even be life threatening.

On Nov. 20, Costco said it had removed all remaining rotisserie chicken salad from its USA stores and stopped making the product until further notice. This is one of those strains of E. coli that can result in subsequent kidney failure, especially among children.

The outbreak was linked to Taylor Farms Pacific Inc. from Tracy, CA.

An investigation found that numerous patients bought or ate rotisserie chicken salad from Costco. Five individuals are hospitalized, including two with kidney failure.

A state public lab in Montana has finally concluded the source of E. coli outbreak in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST). “The ongoing investigation has not identified what specific ingredient in the chicken salad is linked to illness”. “Yeah, they need to keep a good eye on this kind of stuff because this is serious stuff”, Fred Coleman, a Costco shopper. The CDC said the illness reports began on October 6 and involved people from age 5 to 84.

Costco says it uses one provider for all those vegetables in the chicken salad sold in all its USA shops. Chipotle closed 43 of their restaurants in OR and Washington for over a week while they tried to trace the cause of the infection, with no success.

Tauxe said both investigations are ongoing and he hopes they will eventually find the exact cause of both outbreaks.

Some of the symptoms of E.coli include nausea, abdominal pain, cramps, fatigue and fever.

The symptoms occur about three or four days after exposure.