The E. coli outbreak linked to Salinas-grown romaine lettuce has expanded to include 67 people. Six of the 39 people hospitalized have hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a form of kidney failure that is a complication of E. coli infections. Federal health officials warn that consumers should only eat romaine lettuce that they know was grown elsewhere.
The outbreak includes cases from 19 states with Wisconsin reporting the most illnesses with a total of 21. The E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Hageman are representing multiple clients in Wisconsin including a teenager who developed HUS and a 4-year-old child, both of whom were hospitalized.
The number of cases from each state is: Arizona (3), California (4), Colorado (1), Idaho (3), Illinois (1), Maryland (4), Michigan (1), Minnesota (3), Montana (1), Nebraska (1), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (2), Ohio (12), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (3), Texas (2), Virginia (2), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (21). The case patients range in age from 3 to 89 years old. They reported onset of symptoms from September 24, 2019, to November 14, 2019.
The patients in Maryland reported eating prepackaged salads before they became ill. Specifically, they reported eating Ready Pac Bistro Bowl Chicken Caesar Salads purchased from Sam’s Club stores.
The hospitalization rate for this outbreak is more than three times the average, indicating that this is a particularly virulent strain of E. coli O157: H7. The outbreak strain is the same as the one associated with two other recent outbreaks. One romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak in the fall of 2018 sickened 62 people in 16 states. The other, a leafy greens E. coli outbreak in the fall of 2017, sickened 25 people in 15 states. (Although the outbreak was linked to leafy greens in general, many of those patients specifically said they ate romaine.)
The E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Hageman represent clients nationwide and have secured some of the largest verdicts in U.S. history. If you have been sickened in this outbreak, we want to represent you, too. For a free consultation, call us at 1-888-377-8900, text us at 612-261-0856 or, complete the form below.