The multistate E. coli outbreak warning issued from the Center for Disease and Prevention Control (CDC) just received an important update. The CDC issued an early warning that only pertained to chopped lettuce. The new warning says to throw away all types of romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Arizona area.
They also advise you to not buy any new romaine lettuce from grocery stores and to not eat any romaine lettuce from restaurants unless you can verify it did not come from the Yuma, Arizona area. It is important to toss or refrain from eating the lettuce because lettuce labels do not often identify the source of origin.
So far it has been reported that the E. coli outbreak has infected 53 people across 16 different states. There have not been any confirmed deaths but 31 people have been hospitalized at the time of the CDC's last update. Five people that have been infected have developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The CDC is actively investigating the development of this outbreak. This is the first E. coli outbreak of 2018. There were 2 outbreaks during 2017 that were linked to leafy greens and SoyNut Butter. One person died as a result of the outbreaks in 2017.