E. coli death toll is still mounting: Five have now died in the outbreak linked to romaine lettuce

Four more people died from an E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday, bringing the total death toll to five.

Twenty-five more people have taken ill since the last update from the agency on May 16, with 197 patients from 35 states now affected, the CDC said on Friday. 

The additional patients who died were from Arkansas, California, Minnesota and New York and some did not report eating lettuce themselves, but came into contact with those who did, the CDC said. 

Most new cases involve people who became sick two or three weeks ago, when the tainted lettuce was still available for sale.

The US Food And Drug Administration said on May 16 that the harvest season for romaine lettuce is over, so the E. coli outbreak, too, should be coming to an end. 

The E. coli outbreak traced back to romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona region is now responsible for five deaths and another 25 illnesses, the CDC reports 

The reported strain of E. coli, which produces poisonous substances known as Shiga toxins, can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that romaine has only a 21-day shelf life, and, since the last of it was harvested on April 16, we should be safe from bad salad.    

The Shiga-toxins that have made this outbreak so dangerous bind to white blood cells, riding to them to the kidneys where it breaks into the heart of cells. 

Cell death triggers the body to send red blood cells to the kidneys, causing clots and kidney failure. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the outbreak-related death of one person in California on May 2. 

Nearly half of those that contracted E. coli infections since the outbreak began in March had to be hospitalized.

Women have accounted for 65 percent of the infections reported so far. 

Although E. coli is typically to primarily pose a danger to elderly people and very young children, the median age of those affected in this outbreak is 29.

The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced the contamination to the Yuma region of Arizona, where about 90 percent of winter leafy greens are grown. 

So far, the FDA has identified one grower, Harrison Farms, involved in the outbreak.  

But that lettuce from farm was a bit of anomaly, accounting for only the handful of illnesses reported in an Alaska prison. 

Aside from Harrison, the FDA says that many farms could be involved, though they do not yet have a number and are still investigating.  



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