The FDA is investigating a new outbreak of E. coli infections and has closed investigations into other outbreaks.
The new outbreak of E. coli O145:H28 infections has sickened at least seven people. The Food and Drug Administration has not reported where the patients live. The agency has initiated traceback but is not yet reporting what food is being traced.
In other outbreak news, the FDA is inspecting a lettuce supplier linked to a 12-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections. The agency reports that it has identified the lettuce supplier but is not reporting the name of the company. At least 75 people have been sickened in the outbreak.
Three outbreaks declared over.
A multi-state E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened at least 26 people has ended without the FDA identifying a source of the pathogen. The agency undertook traceback efforts but did not report what food was being traced or where the patients lived.
An outbreak of Salmonella Thompson infections that sickened at least 25 people has been declared over. The FDA initiated traceback but did not report what food it was tracing, and it did not know where the patients lived.
An outbreak of infections from Listeria monocytogenes in sprouts has ended, and the FDA has closed its investigation. Although a recall of Jack & the Green Sprouts products was initiated on Oct. 4, their link to the illnesses was not identified until later.
“Listeria monocytogenes has a longer incubation period, meaning that it can take several weeks between when a person eats a contaminated food and when symptoms develop,” according to the FDA.
“When FDA and CDC began investigating illnesses, recalled product was already well past shelf life. FDA, CDC, and state and local partners later determined through epidemiologic, traceback, and laboratory data that the recalled product likely caused illnesses in this outbreak. There is currently no ongoing risk to consumers.”
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